Edmonton

[finsobruce]

Edmonton UDC 1932

Bury St ward
Barrass, H (Labour)1622*
Eusden, G D (Labour)1479*
Preye, W (Labour)1478*
Copley, C E (Conservative)837
Kingaby, L A (Conservative)787
Newsham, Mrs (Conservative)776

Church St ward
Le Mare, H P (Conservative)2106*
Cole, A E (Conservative)2095*
Edmunds, W A (Conservative)2063*
Joyce, T H (Labour)1645*
Bennett, H J (Labour) 1580
Berridge, L E (Labour)1576
How, F C (Labour)1555

Fore St ward
Hollywood, A J (Labour)974*
Dibbens, T J (Labour)943*
Burdett,R J (Conservative)938*
Porteous, Mrs (Labour)937*
Platford,Mrs (Labour)929
Biggs, Mrs (Conservative)924
Jameson, S E (Conservative)893

There seem to be casual vacancies in Church St and Fore St, but seems odd that the Tories didn't stand a fourth candidate in Church St. In Fore St three time candidate Mr Burdett sneaks in. So the two parties seem effectively to have swapped a councillor in the two wards. Mrs Platford doesn't stand again, but is co-opted onto the Mother and Baby welfare committee of the council. (All the reports of the medical officer of health have been digitised by the Wellcome Trust). 

[ColinJ]

Jun 29, 2014 17:07:52 GMT finsobruce said:

Edmonton UDC 1931

The sudden appearance of a full slate of Labour/Co-op candidates has an interesting parallel with the Edmonton parliamentary results. F.A. Broad, "a scientific instrument maker", had been Labour candidate at every general election between 1918 and 1935. He was elected MP in 1922, 23, 24, 29 and 1935, and was runner-up in 1918 and 1931. Up until 1931, according to F.W.S. Craig, he had always been a 'straight' Labour candidate, but in 1931 and 1935 he was Labour and Co-operative.

The other item of interest from Craig is that in 1918 H. Barrass stood as an Independent candidate, receiving 1,223 votes. Craig comments that "Barrass was the nominee of a local organisation called the Edmonton Pro-Ally and Labour Party which was formed in August 1916 following a split in the Edmonton branch of the British Socialist Party."

[Davıd Boothroyd]

That would be Henry Barrass.

A brief article in The Times, 5 May 1930 runs:

"Mr. and Mrs. Henry Barrass, of Edmonton, who are 75 and 70, celebrated their golden wedding on Saturday. Mr. Barrass has been on the district council for 33 years, and has been chairman; and his wife has been a member for 10 years. Both were guardians of the poor for 15 years; and Mr. Barrass has been a member of the Middlesex County Council for 16 years."

There is a stadium in Jubilee Park, Edmonton named after him (it was named during his lifetime). He died in 1934 or 1935, leaving £10,261.

[ColinJ]

Jun 1, 2014 13:45:42 GMT finsobruce said:

Edmonton UDC
1903

Angel Road ward
W J G Mercer (Socialist) 288
S Lawrence (nd) 168
W. Cushing (nd) 137

It is very helpful that all the 'Edmonton' posts have been separated out and placed in this new sub-board.

The solitary appearance of Angel Road as a ward name leads me to make the following suggestion for the composition of Edmonton UDC:

From 1894 up to 1904 the UDC consisted of 15 councillors, elected from 5 wards, each returning 3 councillors, the wards being:

Angel Road, Bury Street, Church Street, Fore Street, Silver Street.

One-third of the councillors would retire each year, and this would explain the single-seat vacancy elections up to 1904. It is likely then that there were a large number of unopposed elections in Angel Road ward. The only way to confirm this supposition is to find in the local newspaper archives the nominations at the first election in December 1894. Nominations were often reported by the local press two to four weeks before the actual election, and might also give details of nominated candidates withdrawing within the permitted period.

In 1904 there would have been a reorganisation of ward boundaries. The UDC would have then been made up of 27 councillors, elected from 3 wards, each returning 9 councillors, the wards being:

Bury Street, Church Street, Fore Street.

Again, one-third of the councillors would have retired on an annual basis, and this would explain the 3-vacancy elections seen from 1905 onwards.

The reappearance of Angel Road as a ward name in the 1930s suggests that you are about to report another boundary change.....

[finsobruce]

I am that. The lists now get a bit long...

[finsobruce]

Edmonton UDC 1933

Angel Rd ward
Harington, T J (Labour) 1237*
Albon, SE (Labour)1176*
Hearn, Mrs E M (Labour)1158*
Berridge, L E (Labour)1146*
Porteous, Mrs H L (Labour) 1143*
Tott, G T (Labour) 1143*
Hone, A (Labour)1129*
Angood, Mrs (Conservative)524
Bunn, F E (Conservative) 523
Harrington, W H (Conservative) 511
Smith, Mrs E (Conservative) 485
Ward, J B (Conservative) 478
Scott, Mrs A (Conservative)472
Ward, Mrs L (Conservative) 451
Brooks, W E (Communist) 125
Eager, J H S (Communist) 110
Jones, B J (Communist) 92
Whitmore, W E (Communist) ?

Bury St ward
Barrass, Henry (Labour)2008*
Barrass, Mrs M (labour)1961*
Eusden, G D (Labour)1851*
Preye, W (Labour)1840*
Young, Mrs E A (Labour)1735*
Ward, J A (Labour) 1638*
Baddeley, J T (Conservative) 825
Copley, C E (Conservative) 795
Newsham, Miss E B (Conservative)718
Sanderson, G E (Conservative) 700
Sykes, F G (Conservative) 696
Simons, C (Conservative) 689
Hails, A W (Conservative) 682
Clements, Mrs C (Ratepayers)228
Brown, W D T (Ratepayers)217
Kingaby, L A (Ratepayers)184
Whittaker, C (Ratepayers)182
Measure, G T (Communist)128
Homewood, L (Communist)120
Gander, C J (Communist)112
Jones, Mrs R E (Communist) 107
Waldheim, L C (Communist)84

No sooner have the Conservatives established two party politics than the Ratepayers intervene but only in Bury Rd and Silver St- noticeably not in the strongest Tory ward of Church St. The return of the Communists is also confined to two wards. First appearance of J A Ward who, in 1945 stood as an Independent candidate in the general election, having presumably fallen out with Labour. In 1947, 48 and 49 he stood as "Unofficial Labour" or "Independent" before becoming a Liberal for most elections until his last appearance in 1957 again as an Independent. 

[finsobruce]

Jun 29, 2014 19:32:58 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

That would be Henry Barrass.

A brief article in The Times, 5 May 1930 runs:

"Mr. and Mrs. Henry Barrass, of Edmonton, who are 75 and 70, celebrated their golden wedding on Saturday. Mr. Barrass has been on the district council for 33 years, and has been chairman; and his wife has been a member for 10 years. Both were guardians of the poor for 15 years; and Mr. Barrass has been a member of the Middlesex County Council for 16 years."

There is a stadium in Jubilee Park, Edmonton named after him (it was named during his lifetime). He died in 1934 or 1935, leaving £10,261.

He must have been a mighty figure in local politics. Starting as a Progressive, he then stood for the ILP (1907), then as an Independent Progressive (1910), then a Progressive again (1913), then Independent (1919) and finally Labour in 1922, though not elected as such until the following year.  Interestingly the 1915 Labour candidate is listed as H Barrass Jnr - which presumably can't be him as he had been elected in 1913.

[finsobruce]

Edmonton UDC 1933 (cont...)

Church st ward
Bales, W (Conservative) 1635*
Cole, A E (Conservative) 1634*
Le Mare, H P (Conservative) 1593*
Middleton, W F (Conservative) 1577*
Edmunds, W A (Conservative) 1570*
Moss, Mrs E M (Conservative) 1551*
Shaw, J W (Conservative) 1540*
Bennett, H J (Labour) 484
Harris, W T (Labour) 476
Creasy, S (Labour) 474
Hone, Mrs L (Labour) 473
Greenshields, Mrs E M (Labour) 470
How, F C (labour) 466
Cole, Mrs E (Labour) 422

Silver St ward
Hollywood, AJG (Labour) 1835*
Long, Mrs F (Labour) 1830*
Chapman, S N (Labour) 1780*
Dibbens, T J (labour) 1762*
Reid, J (Labour) 1745*
Moore, F C (Labour) 1732*
Joyce, T H (Labour) 1675*
Bush, W H (Ratepayers) 780
Fulker, C W (Ratepayers) 752
Carter, E A (Ratepayers) 748
Jackson, R (Ratepayers) 692
Orchard, T H (Ratepayers) 691
Watts, A S B (Ratepayers) 669
Biggs, Mrs D (Conservative) 662
Weber, C R (Ratepayers) 653
Payne, F W (Conservative)620
Parker, W C (Conservative) 565
Willis, C (Conservative) 564
Hongham, C H (Conservative) 534
Wilkie, T L (Conservative) 531
Rogerson, H S (Conservative) 512

[ColinJ]

Jul 9, 2014 19:37:06 GMT finsobruce said:

Edmonton UDC 1933 (cont...)

So.... Edmonton UDC continues to have 27 councillors after the ward boundary revision and mini general election of 1933. Labour has a commanding lead of 20-7 over the Conservatives, and to reach this position in the dark days (for Labour) of the early 1930s is very impressive. I would therefore be surprised if Labour surrended control of the Council right up to its abolition in 1965.

Presumably 1934 will see a return to election by thirds. It will be interesting to see how the three 7-member wards are handled: I wouldn't be surprised if we saw one of these wards at a time having three vacancies, with the two others two vacancies.

One interesting feature from the 1933 results is what appears to be some very disciplined 'ticket' voting, despite the multiple vacancies. The distance between the highest and lowest votes for each party is generally not too large, and was achieved at a time before ballot paper party descriptions and emblems.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Edmonton UDC was given borough status in 1937; in 1956 the composition was Labour 24, Conservatives 8.

When Enfield was created, the Enfield wards covering Edmonton borough were Angel Road, Bush Hill South, Church Street, Craig Park, Jubilee, New Park, Pymmes, St Alphege, St Peter's, Silver Street. Composition there in 1964 was Labour 16, Conservatives 4. In 1968 it was Conservatives 12, Labour 8 - so actually competitve even then.

[finsobruce]

I call this meeting of the Edmonton sub committee to order...

Well the records I copied out recorded "no elections in 1934 and 1935". In 1936 there were apparently no contested elections in Angel Road, Bury St or Church St and it recorded the following councillors elected:

Angel Road ward:

George (?) Albon, Leonard Brridge, Thomas Harrington, Eleanor Hearn, Alexander R Hone, Harriet L Porteous, George T Toll (all Labour)

Bury St ward:

Marion Barrass, Sidney W Creasey, George D Euesden, Harry Garwood, William Preye, John A Ward, Esther Young (all Labour)

Church St ward:

William Bales, William A Edwards(Edmunds?), William F Middleton, Edith M Moss, Frank W Payne, John W Shaw, Charles Simons.

Just to add to the confusion it then records the Labour councillors elected in Silver Street ward, but with figures suggesting a contest...:

Silver Street ward:
Long, Mrs F (Labour) 961
Joyce, Thomas H (Labour) 955
Hollywood, Alfred J (Labour) 954
Dibbens, Thomas J (Labour) 935
Lacey, cyril G (Labour) 935
Reid, John (Labour) 920
Nicholson, Mrs M F (Labour) 916

So what do we think Colin and David? I had a quick search online and in my newspaper subscription but couldn't find any reference to elections in these three years but that doesn't mean anything really as they don't include a local paper. I can't see why things would suddenly be uncontested...

[ColinJ]

Jul 10, 2014 21:39:39 GMT finsobruce said:

Well the records I copied out recorded "no elections in 1934 and 1935". In 1936 there were apparently no contested elections in Angel Road, Bury St or Church St and it recorded the following councillors elected:

Angel Road ward:

George (?) Albon, Leonard Brridge, Thomas Harrington, Eleanor Hearn, Alexander R Hone, Harriet L Porteous, George T Toll (all Labour)

Bury St ward:

Marion Barrass, Sidney W Creasey, George D Euesden, Harry Garwood, William Preye, John A Ward, Esther Young (all Labour)

Church St ward:

William Bales, William A Edwards(Edmunds?), William F Middleton, Edith M Moss, Frank W Payne, John W Shaw, Charles Simons.

Just to add to the confusion it then records the Labour councillors elected in Silver Street ward, but with figures suggesting a contest...:

Silver Street ward:
Long, Mrs F (Labour) 961
Joyce, Thomas H (Labour) 955
Hollywood, Alfred J (Labour) 954
Dibbens, Thomas J (Labour) 935
Lacey, cyril G (Labour) 935
Reid, John (Labour) 920
Nicholson, Mrs M F (Labour) 916

So what do we think Colin and David? I had a quick search online and in my newspaper subscription but couldn't find any reference to elections in these three years but that doesn't mean anything really as they don't include a local paper. I can't see why things would suddenly be uncontested...

Of course, there is an alternative. Given the imbalance in ward representation, it is possible the council moved to trienniel elections. Hence no contests in 1934 or 1935. So, in 1936 there are three wards uncontested and a Labour victory in Silver Street?

Also, Bury Street seems to have gone from a 6-member to 7-member ward, thus removing the imbalance.  Labour continue to have a healthy 21-7 lead. If my idea is correct your next results would be in 1939,

[finsobruce]

Edmonton Borough 1937

Angel Road ward
Hearn, Mrs E M (Labour) 1614*
Albon, G E (Labour) 1595*
Berridge, L E (Labour) 1576*
Hone, A R (Labour) 1545*
Tott, G T (Labour) 1545*
Handscomb (Labour) 1515*
Biggs, Mrs D G (Conservative) 488
Robinson, Mrs R M (Conservative) 455
Davies, A J (Conservative) 443
White, E P (Conservative) 432
Davies, Mrs D E (Conservative) 412

Bury St ward
Coleman, W (Labour) 2489*
Euesden, G (Labour) 2456*
Creasey, S H (Labour) 2436*
Gatward, H (Labour) 2416*
Cudworth, W (Labour) 2395*
Ward, J A (Labour) 2372*
Crawford, Mrs E E M (Conservative) 798
Atkins, C W (Conservative) 764
Moss, H L V (Conservative) 747
Robinson, Mrs S M (Conservative) 717
Butts, W F (Conservative) 684

Silver St ward
Joyce, T H (Labour) 2470*
Long, Mrs F (Labour) 2428*
Dibbens, T J (Labour) 2408*
Lacey, C G (Labour) 2375*
Ward, W B (Labour) 2321*
Nicholson, Mrs H (Labour) 2278*
Broad, S (Ratepayers) 1402
Orchard, T H (Ratepayers) 1330
Jackson, R (Ratepayers) 1317
Kingaby, L A (Ratepayers) 1240
Martin, W (Ratepayers) 1180
Weber, C (Ratepayers) 1176

Unfortunately for that theory Colin there are elections in both 1937 and 1938. Presumably this might be something to do with the granting of borough status mentioned by David. No results for Church St Ward this year or list of unopposed candidates. 

[finsobruce]

i think we should have some heraldry...

Note the lion with the hammer who is being singed by flames representing the gas industry. The cog wheels also represent industry with the book referring to the borough's connection with Charles Lamb and Keats(!).

[finsobruce]

Edmonton Borough 1938

Angel Road ward
Hone, A R (Labour) 1360*
Handscomb, W C (Labour) 1348*
Biggs, Mrs D G (Conservative) 654
Robinson, Mrs R M (Conservative) 640

Bury St ward
Ward, J A (Labour) 2136*
Cudworth, W (Labour) 2111*
Robinson, Mrs S M (Conservative) 1030
Ward, J B (Conservative) 1000

Church St ward
Jamieson, J G (Conservative) 3218*
Moss, Mrs F M (Conservative) 3165*
Pearce, A W (Conservative) 3119*
Lucas, A L (Labour) 1426
Erbe, J J R (Labour) 1417
Hall, J R (Labour) 1373

Silver St ward
Beattie, J A G (Labour) 2420*
Nicholson, Mrs H (Labour)2347*
Elliott, A J (Conservative) 2041
Pearce, A B (Conservative) 1993

But this year's results fit Colin's theory perfectly ("I wouldn't be surprised if we saw one of these wards at a time having three vacancies, with the two others two vacancies").
Silver St ward suddenly becomes rather close for some reason  .   Labour's Mr Erbe - the only time I've come across this name before is the Law & Order actress kathryn Erbe.

And now all goes quiet until 1945. Don't you know there's a war on? 

[ColinJ]

This is all very interesting. Of course, it gives me the chance to offer some more whacky theories.

The all-out election in 1937 could indeed be to do with the granting of borough status. It is possible, but would need to be confirmed, that on ceasing to be a UDC the date of the election is moved from the spring to the November. If it had remained in the spring you would expect to see 1939 election results, which you do not.  A November 1939 election would have been postponed as explained in the following paragraph.

The Local Elections and Register of Electors (Temporary Provisions) Act 1939, which received its Royal Assent on 31 October 1939, was “An Act to postpone elections of local authorities, to postpone the preparation of the Register of Electors, to suspend certain powers relating to the alteration of the areas or of the constitution of local authorities, and for the purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.”

The 1938 results strongly suggest a return to elections by thirds. The three vacancy election in Church Street ward could be in line with my theory, but you would need to see how many councillors were elected unopposed for that ward in 1937. The other wards have dropped to 6 councillors each, and Church Street might also have done the same. The third vacancy in Church Street could be another one of those confusing casual vacancies being filled at the ordinary election time.

[finsobruce]

Happy Xmas, war is over.

Edmonton Borough 1945

Angel Road ward
Berridge, L E (Labour) 2,007*
George, Mrs L M (Labour) 2,000*
Humphries, W E (Labour) 2,000*
Simpson, M (Labour) 1,882*
Doyle, E J (Conservative) 512
Sheed, E J (Conservative) 471
Verrier, C W (Conservative) 459
Pritchard, E S (Conservative) 452
Evans, W J (Independent Socialist) 343
Davis, L S (Independent) 277
Bowers, E W (Independent) 256
Lamprell, R (Independent) 207
Constance, H C T (Independent) 184

Bury St Ward
Creasey, S W (Labour)3,525*
Glover, A M (Labour) 3438*
Grant, R J (Labour) 3433*
Roullier, A H (Labour) 3316*
Hutton, J E (Labour) 3306*
Bourne, R S (Conservative)1110
Rowe, J R (Conservative)1027
Burfoot, S F (Conservative) 977
Sanderson, G E (Conservative) 972
Aupers, J H (Conservative) 941
Ripley, P H (Independent) 268
Jacobson, S (Independent) 235
Stokes, A D (Independent) 236
Tassell, D G H (Independent) 204

Church St Ward
Ricketts, R W (Conservative) 2573*
Halliday, Mrs S J (Conservative) 2523*
Burrows, G W (Conservative) 2458*
Hiorns, T H (Labour) 2090
Pullen, W (Labour) 2073
George, D L (Labour) 2025
Cole, P P (Independent) 429
Clews, F (Independent)353
Garwood, R (Independent) 307

Silver St Ward
Lacey, C G (Labour) 3925*
Mattocks, Mrs E J (Labour) 3806*
Jones, E (Labour) 3787*
Elliott, A J (Conservative) 1438
Parker, W C (Conservative) 1296
Wright, A (Conservative) 1214
Dark, A F M (Liberal) 451
Burdett, G A T (Liberal) 430
Ellis, C W J (Liberal) 364
Hollands, W H (Independent) 259
White, F P (Independent) 251
Way, A (Independent) 226

As far as I can see from this only three pre-war councillors are re-elected this year: Berridge, Creasey, and Lacey although two others Joyce and Long come back in 1946. Lots of independents and Liberals for the first time under their own name. 

[finsobruce]

Edmonton Borough 1946

Angel Road ward
Tanner, A J (Labour) 1604*
Hindell, V E (Labour) 1544*
Batty, H L F (Conservative) 648
Crimp, D L (Conservative) 600

Bury St Ward
Watkinson, C F (Labour) 2249*
George, D L (Labour) 2321*
Sanderson, G E (Conservative) 1277
Butler, H E (Conservative) 1149
Ward, J A (Ind Labour) 598
Williams, M L (Independent??) 387

Church St ward
Wright, A (Conservative) 1773*
Brooks, F H (Conservative) 1685*
George, D L (Labour) 995
Hioms, T H (Labour) 897
Stokes, A D (Independent) 86
Garwood, R (Independent) 84
(this result is listed as a by election on the 19th of January. Replacing Mrs E M Moss and Cllr Ricketts).

Church St Ward
Robertson, A E (Conservative) 3345*
Durham, F G (Conservative) 3388*
Hiorns, T H (Labour) 1305
Conway, C W A (Labour) 1259

Silver St ward
Joyce, T H (Labour) 2682*
Long, F (Labour) 2635*
Gill, H (Conservative) 1564
Taylor, E S (Conservative) 1561
Hollands, W H (Non Political) 380



For some reason the dedicated soul who originally copied out these results didn't list the party descriptions for these elections except for Silver St, so I'm guessing that J A Ward was Independent Labour this time (next year he is "unofficial labour") and that Reuben Garwood and A D Stokes are Independents as Garwood was the previous year. There were a couple of Labour councillors in Haringey in the 70s and 80s called Garwood, but I've no idea if they were related.

[finsobruce]

Edmonton Borough 1947

Angel Rd ward
Conway, C W A (Labour) 2181*
Simpson, M (Labour) 2072*
Verrier, C W (Conservative) 1509
Steward, G A (Conservative) 1459
Ward, J A (Unofficial Labour) 787
Hood, G R (Communist) 277

Bury St Ward
George, L M (Labour) 3393*
Tabraham, A I (Labour) 3332*
Hiorns, T H (Labour) 3321*
Sanderson, G E (Conservative) 2633
Wheatley, L G L (Conservative) 2630
Bennell, M J (Conservative) 2512

Church St ward
Burrows, G W (Conservative) 5423
Halliday, S J (Conservative) 5276
Stanton, J V (Labour) 1863
Downing, H V (Labour) 1835

Silver Street ward
Beattie, J A G (Labour) 3791*
Grant, R J (Labour) 3758*
Elliott, A J (Conservative) 3641
Taylor, E S (Conservative) 3587

A single Communist re-appears the outrider of more in years to come. Mr Hiorns gets elected at his third attempt. I've found this name all over the country (stationers firm in the West country, young victim of a train accident in 1920s Manchester) but there was certainly Hiorns family in Edmonton in the 1850s and 1860s as one was listed as the sexton of Edmonton and gave evidence in court over an insurance claim that his brother had drowned in Brighton and his body washed up in Walton on the Naze. There is a contemporary sculptor named Roger Hiorns. 

[finsobruce]

Edmonton Borough 1948

Bury St ward
Stanton, J V (Labour) 3550*
Sanderson, G A (Conservative) 2839
Richman, C G (Liberal) 622
Ward, J A (Independent Labour) 313
Clibbens, H A (Communist) 124

No elections this year apparently apart from this bye -election