Fred Jowett

Frederick William Jowett (31 January 1864 – 1 February 1944) was a British Labour politician.

Jowett was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire on 31 January 1864. Jowett received little formal education and at the age of eight was working half-time at the local textile mill, moving to full-time work at the age of 13. In 1886, he was promoted to overlooker and after attending evening classes in weaving and design at Bradford Technical College (now the University of Bradford), was employed as a manager at the mill.

As a young man Jowett read the works of William Morris and in 1887 he joined the Socialist League. This organisation was won over to anarchism after 1889 and the Bradford branch subsequently disbanded, moving Jowett to instead join the Labour Electoral Association. Jowett was also a founding member of the Bradford Labour Union, a group formed to support strikers at the Manningham Mills in Bradford. Jowett was a Christian Socialist and was furious when local churchmen criticised the strikers. Jowett responded by helping form the "Bradford Labour Church" in the town.

In 1892 Jowett became the first socialist to be elected to Bradford City Council, although fellow Bradford ILP member Leonard Robinson had won an election unopposed to Manningham ward earlier in the year. A few months later Jowett founded a branch of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford. As a member of the council Jowett instigated several important reforms that were eventually imitated by other authorities. In 1904 Bradford became the first local authority in Britain to provide free school meals. Another successful campaign was the clearing of a slum area and replacing it with new houses. Jowett was also a supporter of reforming the 1834 Poor Law. He was elected as a Poor Law Guardian and attempted to improve the quality of the food given to the children in the Bradford Workhouse.

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