Thomas James Macnamara PC (23 August 1861 – 3 December 1931), was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 teacher, educationalist and 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...

 politician.

Education

Macnamara was born in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, the son of a soldier originally from County Clare

County Clare

-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...

 in Ireland. His family returned to Britain in 1869 and Macnamara was educated first at the Depot School in Pembroke Dock

Pembroke Dock

Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...

 and then in Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

. He qualified as a teacher in 1876 at the Borough Road Training College for Teachers

Borough Road

Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east-west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street.- History and location :The route was created as part of the planning and road improvements associated with the completion of Westminster Bridge in 1750, to provide access to Southwark...

. He was active as a teacher until 1892 in Exeter, Huddersfield

Huddersfield

Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....

 and Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, when he became editor of The Schoolmaster. He was sometime chairman of the London School Board

London School Board

The School Board for London was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London....

 and in 1896 he was appointed president of the National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

The National Union of Teachers is a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is a member of the Trades Union Congress...

.

Politics

In 1900 he was elected to the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 for Camberwell North

Camberwell North (UK Parliament constituency)

Camberwell North was a borough constituency located in the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell, in South London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

, a seat he held until 1918, and then represented Camberwell North West

Camberwell North West (UK Parliament constituency)

Camberwell North West was a borough constituency located in the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell, in South 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 voting system.The constituency was created...

 until 1924. He served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman

Henry Campbell-Bannerman

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman GCB was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and Leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1908. He also served as Secretary of State for War twice, in the Cabinets of Gladstone and Rosebery...

 as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board

Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board was, from 1871 – 1919, a junior ministerial post in the United Kingdom subordinate to the President of the Local Government Board...

 from 1907 to 1908 and under H. H. Asquith

H. H. Asquith

Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...

 and later David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George

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

 as Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty from 1908 to 1920 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1911. In 1920 Lloyd George appointed him Minister of Labour

Secretary of State for Employment

The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment...

, with a seat in the cabinet, a position he retained until the government fell in October 1922.

Publications

• Schoolmaster sketches – Cassell, 1896
• The Education Bill and its Probable Effects on the Schools, the Schoalrs and School Teachers – Swan Sonnesschein, 1902
• The Gentle Golfer – Arrowsmith, 1905
• The Education Bill of 1906 Explained and Defended – Liberal Publication Dept. 1906
• School Room Humour – Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, 1907
• What Not To Do in H Seton-Karr, Golf – Greening, 1907
• The Political Situation: Letters to Working Men – Hodder and Stoughton, 1909
• Concerning the Navy – Liberal Publication Dept. 1910
• Dr Macnamara's Messages to Working Men – Hodder and Stoughton, 1910
• Let London Lead: The Mother City's Duty to the Empire and Herself – reprinted with additions from the Daily Chronicle, 1910
• The Great Insurance Act: Addresses to Working Men – Hodder and Stoughton, 1912
• The Great Insurance Act: A Year's Experience – Liberal Publication Dept 1913
• Success in Industry – Harrison, 1920
• The Work of the Ministry of Labour – National Liberal Council, 1922
• Labour at the Crossroads: Two Camberwell Addresses – Hodder and Stoughton, 1923
• If Only We Would: Some Reflections on our Social Shortcomings and Some Suggestions for their Removal – P S King, 1926

External links