Wright Robinson, former Mayor of Manchester, papers
1907-1966
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Paper relating to political and trade union activities 1907-1957; papers relating to time as Lord Mayor 1941-1942 and correspondence relating to Council work 1943-1958; papers relating to role in national affairs 1942-1958 and correspondence with politicians 1911-1960; papers relating to international affairs 1917-1951; personal papers, including diaries, autobiography to 1940's, and correspondence 1915-1960; miscellaneous papers c1917-1970, including correspondence 1917-1958; photographs c1903-c1946; postcards, undated.
Place:Manchester/Manchester/Manchester/Lancashire/England
Title:
Wright Robinson, former Mayor of Manchester, papers
Date of work:
1907-1966
Reference number:
GB127.M284
Level of description:
Fonds
Includes:
Custodial history:
Wright Robinson was born in Burnley in 1876, and moved to Blackburn in 1887, where he first became a councillor in 1911. He left Blackburn for Liverpool in 1913 becoming editor of the 'Liverpool Forward' and Independent Labour Party Organiser. In the First World War, he was a pacifist and successfully worked to secure the release from the army of Charles Dukes, George Beardsworth and George Benson, who were stationed at Birkenhead Camp. In 1917, he was offered the post of Divisional Officer for the National Union of Distributive and Allied Workers in Manchester, but when this was not considered by the Committee on Work of National Importance as sufficient for exemption from military service, he also became a porter at the University Hall of Residence, Dalton Hall.
He was elected to Manchester City Council, for Beswick Ward, in 1919 and represented it till 1935, when he became an Alderman. He served on the Highways, Libraries, Education, Finance, Establishment, Airport and Food Control Committees, but his chief interest was Education. He was Chairman of the Education Committee from 1929 to 1932. He was very interested in the development of the Manchester College of Technology, of which he was Chairman for 26 years and Vice President in 1956. In 1934 he was made a J.P., and he served on the Juvenile Court Panel. In 1939 he was influential in helping Czech and Jewish refugees who came to the city. He became Lord Mayor of Manchester in 1941 and was granted the Freedom of the City of Manchester in 1956.
During the 1940s and 1950s he served on various bodies, being Chairman of the Wartime Local Appeal Board, the Manchester Savings Committee, the N.W. Electricity Board Consultative Council and the Local Government Examinations Board. He also served on the Royal Commission on the Press 1947, and the Local Tribunal of Conscientious Objectors. Though he had been a pacifist in the First World War, he believed that Hitler could only be defeated by war.
Having had little formal education as a child he was largely a self taught man. He was awarded an honorary M.A. by Manchester University in 1943. He declined a Barony and 0.B.E. in 1945 and a C.B.E. in 1956. All aspects of his life and work, including his philosophy of life are illustrated by his diaries, autobiography and the letters to his family and friends.
Source:
First deposit in December 1977 by Councillor Norman Norris. Additional deposit in November 1978 by Frances Robinson.
Access restrictions:
UnrestrictedOpen
Use restrictions:
Unrestricted
Record types:
COLLECTION
Language:
English
Record number:
7192845
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Total copies: 1