142 ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER. 



called the Workers' Union. It was formed to organise all 

 those workers who did not follow any particular craft or 

 had not been catered for by existing unions. Its ambition 

 was to organise the whole of the unorganised into one big 

 union. Mr. Tom Mann was its president, and Mr. Charles 

 Duncan its secretary on 2 a week. .Though it had its 

 birth amongst bricks and mortar and the grime of soot, 

 its formation fortunately had reached the ears of a skilled 

 agricultural worker living in a midland village called Ellerdine 

 Heath, and he was determined at the outset to organise 

 the farm workers. This was Mr. John Beard. He managed 

 to get eight men to join in his own village and then held a 

 public meeting at Iron Bridge, Salop, which he invited Mr. 

 Charles Duncan to address. Mr. Duncan had been instructed 

 to ride a bicycle because the Union was too poor to afford 

 travelling expenses. The meeting was held, but nobody 

 joined the Union ! 



Then another effort was made some months later at the 

 same village. This time excitement had been worked up 

 by a born advertising agent, who was then working as a 

 farm labourer. This was Mr. John Simpson, who afterwards 

 became the creator and the secretary of the Planet Friendly 

 Assurance Society. Mr. Simpson cleverly created curiosity 

 through a newspaper controversy in which he was audacious 

 enough to use his own name and address. 



The farmers looked upon this act as a piece of sheer im- 

 pudence, while labourers were aghast at his daring. He not 

 only attacked the conditions of the labourers but also held 

 up to ridicule the private ownership of land. The three 

 men, Mr. John Beard, Mr. Charles Duncan, and Mr. John 

 Simpson, spoke. Farm workers walked to the meeting 

 from miles around. It was a great success, and at the end 

 of it a number of labourers joined the Union. 



The next meeting was held at Frees, Salop, and here 

 again the men came in from the farms and hamlets around 

 and made a big village meeting. 



The next night the three men went to Market Drayton, 

 Shropshire, which was near Mr. Simpson's home, and one 

 may be assured the ground had been well prepared. Here 



