View source for F. C. Henry

'''Frederick Charles Henry''' [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (2 January 1906<ref name="register">''[[1939 England and Wales Register]]''</ref> – 2000) was a [[British people|British]] socialist activist and trade union leader from [[Rochdale]], Lancashire.

By the early 1930s, Henry was Financial Secretary of the Rochdale Trades Council, and editor of the ''Rochdale Labour News''.  He joined the [[Socialist League (UK, 1932)|Socialist League]], a left-wing affiliate of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], and served as its general secretary from January 1933 until July 1934.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bor |first1=Michael |title=The Socialist League in the 1930s |date=2005 |publisher=Athena Press |isbn=1844010430 |page=92}}</ref>

Henry was elected to Rochdale Town Council, and became the leader of the Labour group on the council.  He also became the full-time organising secretary of the Rochdale Trades Council.  In 1939, he was appointed as the general secretary of the [[Waterproof Garment Workers' Trade Union]] (WGWTU).<ref>{{cite news |title=Waterproof Garment Workers' new secretary |work=Manchester Guardian |date=31 October 1939}}</ref>

Henry was made a [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] in the [[1951 Birthday Honours]],<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39243 |date=1 June 1951 |pages=3061–3094  |supp=y}}</ref> and then an [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] in the [[1966 New Year Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=43854 |date=31 December 1965 |pages=1–36   |supp=y}}</ref>  From 1959, he served on the management committee of the [[General Federation of Trade Unions (UK)|General Federation of Trade Unions]], and he was its chair in 1968/69.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mr F. C. Henry, OBE, FCCS |journal=Federation News |date=July 1968 |page=N68 |url=http://internetserver.bishopsgate.org.uk/files/GFTU%20Digital/GFTU-9-18.pdf |accessdate=26 June 2020}}</ref>

The waterproof garment industry was in long-term decline, and the WGWTU lost members throughout Henry's period leading the union.  In 1972, he arranged for it to merge into the [[National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers]], and then retired.<ref name="marsh">{{cite book|last1=Marsh|first1=Arthur|last2=Ryan|first2=Victoria|last3=Smethurst|first3=John B.|title=Historical Directory of Trade Unions|volume=4|date=1994|publisher=Ashgate|location=Farnham|isbn=9780859679008|pages=471&ndash;472}}</ref>

He died in 2000 in [[Blackpool]], aged 94.<ref name="death">''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007''</ref>

==References==
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{{succession box|title=General Secretary of the [[Socialist League (UK, 1932)|Socialist League]]|years=1933&ndash;1934|before=''New position''|after=[[J. T. Murphy]]}}
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{{succession box|title=General Secretary of the [[Waterproof Garment Workers' Trade Union]]|years=1939&ndash;1972|before=[[Ted Ainley]]|after=''Union merged''}}
{{succession box|title=Chair of the [[General Federation of Trade Unions (UK)|General Federation of Trade Unions]]|years=1968&ndash;1969|before=Robert Doyle|after=[[Fred Hague]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Frederick Charles}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:General secretaries of British trade unions]]
[[Category:People from Rochdale]]
[[Category:Presidents of the General Federation of Trade Unions (UK)]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]