Lloyd Jones (socialist)

Lloyd Jones (1811–1886) socialist, union activist, advocate of co-operation, journalist and writer was born in Bandon, County Cork in 1811. Described by Sidney and Beatrice Webb as one of "the more thoughtful working-men leaders" and referred to by Karl Marx as "The Tailor", he was a friend, supporter and biographer of Robert Owen (his The Life and Times of Robert Owen was published posthumously in 1889) and aided Samuel Plimsoll in his campaign to improve safety at sea. During the American Civil War, he resigned from the Glasgow Sentinel rather than write a pro-Confederate article.

Lloyd Jones left Ireland for Manchester in 1827 in pursuit of work, where he followed his father's trade taking employment as a fustian cutter and soon after joining the Journeyman's Union of Fustian Cutters was appointed its Secretary.

When there was some expectation of another Peterloo Massacre, Lloyd Jones, like many thousands of others in the North, provided himself with arms, with a view to active resistance.

He joined the Salford Co-operative Society in 1829 and ran its free school until 1831. He subsequently became the chief platform advocate for Robert Owen's plan of village companies and later, when Owen's emphasis shifted to the utopian and religious, Lloyd Jones was a paid Owenite "Social Missionary". He continued evangelising until the mission was ended in 1845. For many years, these plans were vigorously opposed by the clergy who regarded Owen's theories as immoral. Lloyd Jones had a good presence and a fine voice, with readiness and courage in controversy. He was regarded as the best public debater of his day, and was in more discussions than any other of Owen's supporters. When the Chartists' proposal of a month's annual holiday was put forward in 1839 with a view to showing practically the importance of the labouring classes, Lloyd Jones was appointed to address the Chartists of the Manchester district with whom the strength of the movement rested. An audience of five thousand men assembled in the Carpenters' Hall and a further five thousand outside. After Lloyd Jones' speech in opposition to the "sacred month", the project was abandoned.

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