William Edwin Harvey

Who was William Edwin Harvey?

William Edwin Harvey, known as W. E. Harvey, was a British Lib-Lab Member of Parliament.

Born in Hasland, Derbyshire, Harvey worked in a coal mine from the age of ten. He joined the South Yorkshire Miners' Association in 1869, and was a the union's local delegate by 1872. For his trade union activity, he was dismissed from the local pit, but managed to find work at Sheepbridge, then later at Morton. He also converted to Primitive Methodism and in his spare time was a lay preacher.

In 1880, the Derbyshire-based members of the SYMA split away to form the Derbyshire Miners' Association, and Harvey became the new union's first treasurer. He resigned in 1882, because union meetings clashed with cricket matches for his employer's team. However, the following year, he was elected as the union's assistant secretary. In 1891, he was elected to the national executive of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, serving on it in most subsequent years, and in 1894 he was the President of Chesterfield Trades Council.

Politically a liberal, strongly opposed to socialism and syndicalism, Harvey became the vice-president of the Labour Electoral Association in 1894. This organisation aimed to secure the election of workers under the auspices of the Liberal Party, and Harvey was elected to Chesterfield Borough Council in 1897, serving until his death.