George
Potter,
the son of a carpenter, was born in Kenilworth in 1832. Educated at
a local dame school he left at an early age before his "studies
had progressed very far". His father, Edmund Potter, was only
earning 3s. a day and with seven children to feed needed George to
add to the family income. After working as a farm labourer he moved
to Coventry at sixteen where he was apprenticed as a master joiner
and cabinet-maker.
In 1853 Potter moved to London where he
found work as a carpenter. He joined a small local union, the Progressive
Society of Carpenters and Joiners, which had its headquarters at the
Rose & Crown in Tottenham Court Road. In 1854 he was elected secretary
and four years later became chairman of the union.
Potter came to the conclusion that to make progress it was necessary
to unite the different unions in the building trade. In 1859 George
Potter organised the Building Trades Conference and as a result they
put in a joint claim for a nine-hour day. This led to a strike and
lock-out and although the workers did not achieve their objectives,
Potter achieved a national reputation as a trade union activist. Newspapers
referred to him as a new kind of union leader. He was described as
an intellectual and they mentioned his smart appearance and his restrained
way of speaking at public meetings.
In 1861 Potter he established a trade union weekly newspaper, the
Bee-Hive. Edited by George Troup, a
professional journalist, the Bee-Hive
impressed the London Trades Council and it was adopted as the organisation's
newspaper. Even so, by 1862 the circulation was only 2,700 and Potter
had accumulated debts of £827.
In the mid 1860s some leaders of the London Trades Council such
as Robert Applegarth began to complain
about the way that the Bee-Hive
always supported industrial disputes. Applegarth accused Potter of
being a "manufacturer of strikes". Potter replied that any
group of men who decided to strike knew the rights and wrongs of their
own case, and therefore deserved the full support of the Bee-Hive.
In 1865 Applegarth accused Potter of personal dishonesty through the
maladministration of the Bee-Hive
and telling lies about an industrial dispute
in North Staffordshire. The charges were investigated by a London
Trades Council committee and as a result Potter lost his seat on the
executive and the Bee-Hive
ceased to be the organisation's journal.
After leaving the London Trades Council Potter established his own
organisation, the London Working Men's Association (LWMA). Potter
became president and the Bee-Hive
was adopted as its journal. The newspaper, now edited by Potter, continued
to lose money and in June 1868, two wealthy
sympathizers, Daniel
Platt and Samuel Morley, a Liberal MP,
saved him from bankruptcy by buying up shares in the newspaper. As
well as advocating trade union rights, the Bee-Hive
also gave its support to radicals in the Liberal
Party.
The support that Potter gave to trade unionists made him a popular
figure in the movement and at the 1871 was elected president of the
Trades Union Congress and became chairman
of its parliamentary committee. Potter also joined the George
Howell and Robert Applegarth on
the Working
Men's Committee for Promoting the Separation of Church & State.
In 1873 Potter was elected to the London School Board.
Potter continued to edit the Bee-Hive
but sales were still poor and in 1878, with debts of over £2,000,
was declared bankrupt. Attempts to revive his business by publishing
political pamphlets and brief biographies of leading political leaders
also ended in failure.
Potter was also unsuccessful in his attempts be elected to the House
of Commons. His final attempt was in the
1886 General Election when as official Liberal
Party candidate finished fourth in the poll.
George Potter died on 3rd June
1893.
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