The Life and Times of J. H. Whitley: Halifax Radical Liberal and Speaker of the

Call for papers: deadline extended to 22 January 2016

15-16 September 2016, University of Huddersfield

J.H. Whitley (1866-1935) was Liberal MP for Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1900 to 1928 and Speaker of the House of Commons from 1921 to 1928. He presided over the transition to democracy in Britain and the emergence of Labour as a party of government. In 2011, Whitley’s political papers were deposited at the University of Huddersfield Archives, now housed in the HLF-funded Heritage Quay.

Active in town politics in Halifax in the 1890s, Whitley was elected MP in 1900, holding the seat until his retirement in 1928. In 1916, he was appointed to chair a committee to report on ‘the Relations of Employers and Employees’ in the wake of the establishment of the shop stewards movement and the widespread action against dilution during the First World War. The committee created joint industrial councils, known as Whitley Councils, some of which maintained their role into the late twentieth century.

Whitley continued to see politics at Westminster as closely connected to civic and social work and he served as the president of the National Council of Social Service after 1921, developing the work that he undertook in Halifax. After retirement, Whitley chaired the Royal Commission on Labour in India and he served as chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC in the 1930s.

This conference seeks to explore Whitley’s life and times to produce a collaborative biography. We want to bring together national and local historians, from established scholars to postgraduate students, to explore and analyse Whitley’s life in the context of transitions towards democracy.

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers on the following themes:

Social work and education in industrial towns and cities

Halifax politics in the late 19th century

Social and political networks in late Victorian and Edwardian Britain

Parliamentary procedures in the 1920s

Industrial relations and the Whitley joint industrial councils in the First World War and after

Empire: The Empire Parliamentary Association and the Royal Commission on Labour in India

J.H. Whitley and the BBC

J.H.Whitley and religion

Confirmed speakers include Keith Robbins, Keith Laybourn, Greg Patmore, David Hendy and Richard Toye.

A prestigious prize worth £1000 is available for a postgraduate or early career historians who include research in the JH Whitley collection in their current project and who present at the conference. The prize is open to all fields of early twentieth century history and politics. For details see: http://goo.gl/PjiM1f

It is the intention to publish a collection of essays from the conference, edited by Keith Laybourn, John Hargreaves and Richard Toye.

To submit a proposal, email paul.ward@hud.ac.uk with a 250-word proposal and brief biography by  22 January 2016.