Thomas Edmund Harvey
Encyclopedia
Thomas Edmund Harvey (4 January 1875 – 3 May 1955) was an English museum curator, social reformer and politician. He sat in Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 first as a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 and later as an Independent Progressive
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP). He was also a prolific writer on Christianity and the role and history of the Society of Friends.

Family and education

Harvey was born in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 to a prominent Quaker family. He was the eldest son of William Harvey, a teacher and art collector who made a substantial gift of paintings by Dutch and Flemish masters to the nation as well as being a local politician, serving for 13 years on Leeds City Council. Ted Harvey was educated at Bootham School
Bootham School
Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school in the city of York in North Yorkshire, England. It was founded by the Religious Society of Friends in 1823. It is close to York Minster. The current headmaster is Jonathan Taylor. The school's motto Membra Sumus Corporis Magni means "We...

 in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

 and attended Yorkshire College, Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...

 and Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...

. He also studied at the University of Berlin and the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

 in Paris as well as at other institutions overseas. In 1900 he received his MA degree from Oxford University with First Class honours in Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...

. He later received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Leeds University. In 1911 he married Alice Irene Thompson, the daughter of the eminent physicist Professor Silvanus P. Thompson
Silvanus P. Thompson
Silvanus Phillips Thompson FRS was a professor of physics at the City and Guilds Technical College in Finsbury, England. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1891 and was known for his work as an electrical engineer and as an author...

 FRS.

His brother was the writer William Fryer Harvey
W. F. Harvey
William Fryer Harvey was an English writer of short stories, most notably in the mystery and horror genres. Among his better-known stories are "August Heat" and "The Beast with Five Fingers"....

, best known for his short story The Beast with Five Fingers
The Beast with Five Fingers
The Beast with Five Fingers is a horror film directed by Robert Florey and with a screenplay by Curt Siodmak, based on a short story by W. F. Harvey first published in the New Decameron. The original music score was composed by Max Steiner...

 that was turned into a film of the same name, starring Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...

.

Career

In 1900, Harvey enrolled as an assistant at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

 where he was to work until 1904. However he was also deeply interested in social reform and welfare, especially the alleviation of poverty, educational and prison reform issues. He chose to pursue this work through the settlement movement
Settlement movement
The settlement movement was a reformist social movement, beginning in the 1880s and peaking around the 1920s in England and the US, with a goal of getting the rich and poor in society to live more closely together in an interdependent community...

 and was a resident of Toynbee Hall
Toynbee Hall
Toynbee Hall is a building in Tower Hamlets, East London which is the home of a charity working to bridge the gap between people of all social and financial backgrounds, with a focus on eradicating poverty and promoting social inclusion....

 from 1900, Deputy Warden from July 1904 and became Warden of Toynbee Hall from 1906–1911. From 1906–1910 he was a member of the Central (Unemployed) Body for London, the organisation responsible for registering those unemployed men applying for unemployment relief and finding work for them. From 1920–1921 he was Warden of Swarthmore Settlement in Leeds. Harvey was among a number of reformers, including R.H.Tawney and Harvey’s predecessor as Warden of Toynbee Hall , Canon Samuel Augustus Barnett
Samuel Augustus Barnett
Samuel Augustus Barnett was an Anglican clergyman and social reformer particularly associated with the establishment of the first university settlement, Toynbee Hall in east London in 1884....

, who recognised that the emphasis of settlement work needed to be moved away from the simple provision of relief and help and towards a wider agenda based upon social investigation, the raising of public awareness of social problems and broader political legislation.

London politics

Harvey’s politics were strongly linked to his religious and social beliefs. He was elected to the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...

 for Finsbury East
Finsbury East (UK Parliament constituency)
Finsbury East was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Finsbury district of North London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.- History :...

 as a Progressive
Progressive Party (London)
The Progressive Party was a political party based around the Liberal Party that contested municipal elections in the County of London.It was founded in 1888 by a group of Liberals and leaders of the labour movement. It was also supported by the Fabian Society, and Sidney Webb was one of its...

 and served from 1904–1907, during which time he sat on the Education Committee. He was also an elected member of Stepney Borough Council
Metropolitan Borough of Stepney
The Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London created in 1900. In 1965 it became part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.-Boundaries:...

 from 1909–1911.

West Leeds

Harvey first stood for Parliament at the United Kingdom general election, January 1910 for Leeds West
Leeds West (UK Parliament constituency)
Leeds West is a borough constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire which is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...

, holding Herbert Gladstone’s old seat for the Liberals by a majority of 3,315 votes. He retained Leeds West at the December 1910 general election increasing his majority to 4,270.

While an MP, Harvey was a member of the Standing Committee on Boy Labour in the Post Office (1910–1917). He acted as unpaid Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...

 to Ellis Ellis-Griffith
Sir Ellis Ellis-Griffith, 1st Baronet
Sir Ellis Jones Ellis-Griffith, 1st Baronet PC KC , was a British barrister and Liberal politician.Born in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Ellis-Griffith was the son of Thomas Morris Griffith, a builder...

 KC while he was at the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

  and performed the same role for Charles Masterman from 1913–1914 although he resigned his post on the outbreak of the First world War.

Pacifism and conscientious objection

As a Quaker, Harvey was placed in a difficult personal position by the outbreak of war in August 1914. Quakers traditionally took the view that all war is incompatible with the spirit and teachings of Christ. Harvey was a pacifist and profoundly wished to keep Britain out of the war and supported those elements in the government, particularly the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey who were working to prevent a general war. Harvey remained one of the small band of Liberals, who at that time still included Norman Angell
Norman Angell
Sir Ralph Norman Angell was an English lecturer, journalist, author, and Member of Parliament for the Labour Party.Angell was one of the principal founders of the Union of Democratic Control...

 and E D Morel, who had grave doubts about the war.

Throughout the First World War and until 1920 Harvey, in the Quaker tradition, engaged personally in relief work in the war zone in France on behalf of the War Victims’ Relief Committee of the Society of Friends. But Harvey’s dilemma over support for the government as opposed to his religious beliefs surfaced when he and another Liberal Quaker MP, Arnold Stephenson Rowntree
Arnold Stephenson Rowntree
Arnold Stephenson Rowntree , was a Quaker and Liberal MP for York, England.He was the son of John Stephenson Rowntree , and the nephew of Joseph Rowntree , philanthropist and chocolate manufacturer....

, helped to draft the part of the Military Service Act 1916 that provided for the possibility of conscientious objectors being required to perform non-combatant duties in the army. There was disagreement among Quakers about the sort of service, if any, which conscientious objectors should be asked to do, and Harvey and Rowntree were accused of arrogating to themselves the right to specify what objectors might do and of misrepresenting to the authorities the extent to which they could speak for Quaker opinion. He also served as a member of the Pelham Committee, the body charged with trying to find suitable occupations for conscientious objectors during the War.

Dewsbury

Harvey stood down from Parliament at the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...

 but tried to re-enter the House of Commons in 1922
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...

 having in 1921 been selected as Liberal candidate for Dewsbury
Dewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Dewsbury is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

 in the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...

. Dewsbury had been Sir Walter Runciman
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford PC was a prominent Liberal, later National Liberal politician in the United Kingdom from the 1900s until the 1930s.-Background:...

’s seat up until 1918 when, as an opponent of the Coalition government
Coalition Government 1916-1922
The Coalition Government of David Lloyd George came to power in the United Kingdom in December 1916, replacing the earlier wartime coalition under H.H. Asquith, which had been held responsible for reverses during the Great War. Those Liberals who continued to support Asquith served as the Opposition...

 of David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

 Runciman had been opposed by a Coalition Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 who had the benefit of the government coupon
Coalition Coupon
The ‘Coalition Coupon’, often referred to as ‘the coupon’, refers to the letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the United Kingdom general election, 1918 endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory in...

. In a three-cornered contest Harvey nearly regained the seat for the Liberals in 1922 but lost to Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 candidate Benjamin Riley by 756 votes (3.3% of the total vote), the Conservative candidate Osbert Peake
Osbert Peake, 1st Viscount Ingleby
Osbert Peake, 1st Viscount Ingleby PC was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Minister of National Insurance and then as Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from 1951 to 1955....

, later to be MP for Leeds North
Leeds North (UK Parliament constituency)
Leeds North was a borough constituency in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.-History:...

 came third.

Harvey was however returned to Parliament for Dewsbury at the 1923 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...

 when he defeated Riley in a straight fight to win by a majority of 2,256 votes. At the 1924 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...

 the situation was again reversed. This time Riley won the seat back and in a three-cornered contest Harvey fell to the bottom of the poll.

1929–1937

Harvey did not stand for election in Dewsbury again. For the 1929 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1929
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...

 he returned to his old stamping ground of Leeds. On this occasion he abandoned Leeds West where Liberal candidates had come bottom of the poll at the last three general elections, trying Leeds North instead. He was not successful, coming third in a three-way fight with his old antagonist Osbert Peake winning the seat for the Tories.

Harvey continued to support the Liberal Party, being sometime Yorkshire representative on the National Liberal Federation
National Liberal Federation
The National Liberal Federation was the union of all English and Welsh Liberal Associations. It held an annual conference which was regarded as being representative of the opinion of the party’s rank and file and was broadly the equivalent of a present-day party conference.-Foundation:The...

  but he did not stand for Parliament in the general elections of 1931
United Kingdom general election, 1931
The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...

 or 1935
United Kingdom general election, 1935
The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...

.

MP for the Combined English Universities

In 1937 Harvey was chosen as a candidate in the by-election for the Combined English Universities
Combined English Universities (UK Parliament constituency)
Combined English Universities was a university constituency represented in the United Kingdom Parliament . It was formed by enfranchising and combining all the English Universities, except for Cambridge, Oxford and London, which were already separately represented.-Boundaries:This University...

 seat. He stood as an Independent Progressive candidate, saying that contests for the University seats ought to be fought on ideas and not on party political lines. Against him were Conservative and Independent rivals but Harvey won with a majority of 1,644 votes. He retained his links with Liberalism however, the party leader Sir Archie Sinclair, Ramsay Muir
Ramsay Muir
Ramsay Bryce Muir was a British historian, Liberal Party politician and thinker who made a significant contribution to the development of liberal political philosophy in the 1920s and 1930s through his work on domestic industrial policy and his promotion of the international policy of...

 and the Liberal Party Organisation all sent messages of congratulation to Harvey when he won the by-election. He held the Combined English Universities seat until the 1945 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...

 when he stood down from Parliament for the last time, aged 70.

Academic refugees

During his time in Parliament as an Independent, and consistent with his representation of a University seat, Harvey championed the plight of foreign academics and scientist forced by various regimes to flee as refugees.

Other appointments

Retaining his life-long interest in social reform, Harvey was a Master of the charitable trust the Guild of St George
Guild of St George
The Guild of St George is charitable trust founded by John Ruskin in England in the 1870s as a vehicle to implement his ideas about how society should be re-organised. Its members, who are called Companions, were originally required to give a tithe of their income to the Guild...

from 1934–51. Harking back to his museum work and because of his father’s gift of paintings to the nation, Harvey also served as the Chairman of the National Loan Collection Trust, the body set up to coordinate the lending of pictures to municipal and other provincial art galleries.

Publications

  • Poor Raoul and Other Fables – J M Dent & Co, London, 1905
  • The Rise of the Quakers – in Nonconformity, Volume 5, 1905
  • A London Boy’s Saturday – St George Press, Bournville, 1906
  • A Wayfarer’s Faith; aspects of the common basis of religious life – Wells, Gardner & Co, London, 1913
  • The Long Pilgrimage: Human Progress in the Light of the Christian Hope – Robert Davis, Harrogate, 1921
  • Stolen Aureoles: Legends for the First Time now Collected Together – Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1922
  • Silence and Worship: A Study in Quaker Experience – Swarthmore Press, London, 1923
  • The Heart of Quakerism - Friends’ Book Centre, London, 1925
  • Along the Road of Prayer – Friends’ Book Centre, London, 1929
  • The Lost Sacrament - Friends’ Book Centre, London, 1930
  • Goodness and God - Friends’ Book Centre, London, 1931
  • St Aelred of Rievaulx – H R Allenson, London,1932
  • Authority and Freedom in the Experience of Quakers – Friends’ Home Service Committee, London, 1935
  • The Divine Message - Woodbrooke Extension Committee, Birmingham, 1938
  • The Christian Citizen and the State - Friends’ Book Centre, London, 1939
  • The Christian Church and the Prisoner in English Experience – Epworth Press, London, 1941
  • Songs in the Night – M T Stevens, Malvern, 1942
  • Workaday Saints – Bannisdale Press, London, 1949
  • Thomas Shillitoe, 1754–1836: Some hitherto unpublished particulars – Friends’ Historical Society, London, 1950

Papers

Harvey’s correspondence with conscientious objectors from 1916–1920; Pelham Committee papers, and other correspondence are available in the Friends Library in London.
Some of Harvey’s family correspondence can also be seen at Leeds University Library in the collection of papers relating to the Harvey family of Leeds.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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