INDEX

A Adult Sunday Schools, 213, 259 Afforestation for unemployed, 265

B Baby-farming in London, 94 Balfour, Mr. Arthur, 17, 238, 261 Baptist Union, Crooks addresses the, 257 Barnett, Canon, 222, 290 Beresford, Lord Charles, 186, 187 Bishop of London, The, 257 Blackwall Tunnel, Crooks and the, 101-04 Boarding-out children, 125 Borough Councillor, Crooks as a, 68, 154-74, 212 Brabazon Society and Poplar Workhouse, 291 Brotherhoods, Men's, 300 Burns, Mr. John, 68, 189, 195, 265, 266, 294

C Campbell-Bannerman, Sir H., 195, 294 Canada and the unemployed, 231, 267 Central Unemployed Committee, 232, 235 Chamberlain, Mr. Joseph, 214, 217 Chandler, Bishop, 23, 76 Chaplin, Mr. Henry, 115, 144, 185 Chesterton, Mr. G. K., 148, 149 Children correspondents of Crooks, 171, 198 Children, Poor Law, 119, 125 Children, Starving School, 297 Christianity and the working classes, 259 Churches and Labour, 261 City Temple Speech, 300 "College" at the Dock Gates, Crooks's, 57, 212 Collins, Sir William, 97 Coronation festivities at Poplar, 169-71 Craftsmanship, Need of, 41 Crooks, Mrs., Will's mother; his tributes to, 3, 6, 18, 36 Crooks, Mrs., Will Crooks's second wife, 73, 167, 249 Crooks, Will: born in a one-roomed home, 1; taken into the workhouse, 9; sent to a Poor Law school, 11; an errand-boy, 16, 26; at George Green schools, 19; at Sunday School, 19; books of his youth, 22; at work in a smithy, 33; apprenticed to coopering, 36; nicknamed "Young John Bright," 37; first marriage, 43; dismissed as an agitator, 44; out of work, 44, 51; tramping experiences, 45; finds work at Liverpool, 46, 50; his child's death there, 46; gets work as a dock labourer, 50; his "college" at the dock gates, 57-66; his part in the Great Dock Strike, 67; a dangerous illness, 69; death of his first wife, 72; his second marriage, 73; the Will Crooks Wages Fund formed, 75; his election to the London County Council, 76; declines a partnership, 81; refuses a rent-free house, 82; his work on the L.C.C., 85-104; helps to formulate the Fair Wage Clause, 87; is chosen Chairman of the Public Control Committee, 94; declines the Vice-chairmanship of the L.C.C., 98; secures open spaces for Poplar, 98; his overcoat stolen, 99; pleads the cause of good craftsmanship, 100; the Blackwall Tunnel one of his monuments, 101; is chosen Chairman of the Bridges Committee, 102; becomes a Guardian for Poplar, 105; is elected Chairman of the Board, 112; changes the composition of the Board and of its staff, 112; abolishes the pauper's garb, 114; reforms the workhouse, 114-118; sends Poor Law children to Board Schools, 120; provides a home for them, 123; his work on the Metropolitan Asylums Board, 128-43; a peace-maker among the poor, 144; chosen Mayor of Poplar, 154; organises the King's Dinner to the Poor at Poplar, 169; receives the Prince and Princess of Wales, 169; raises funds for a Coronation treat to children, 170; his policy of paying old age pensions through the Poor Law, 175-185; his first election for Woolwich, 186-201; his maiden speech, 202; advocates the payment of members, 204; introduces a Women's Enfranchisement Bill, 206; retires from the Poplar Borough Council, 212; up and down the country, 213; ridicules Protection and Preference, 213-18; his efforts for the unemployed, 219-51; advocates the provision of useful work, 221; his activity as a member of the Poplar Distress Committee, 223-26; his scheme for a Central Unemployed Committee adopted by Mr. Walter Long, 232; his appeal to Mr. Balfour for rating powers for providing work, 237-40; overwork and illness, 241-42; secures the passing of the Unemployed Bill, 244-47; his children, 252-53; his home life described by the World, 253; his morning's work sketched by Mr. G. R. Sims, 255-56; his many-sided activity, 257-60; his temperance work, 260; his relations with the Free Churches, 262-63; his schemes for colonising England, 264-70; defends the Poplar Board of Guardians at the Local Government Inquiry (1906), 272; sees his mistake in having remained Chairman of the Board, 274; his reply to the Inspector's report, 280; appeals to the public in defence of his policy, 281; receives letters of encouragement, 287; is assured by Mr. John Burns that there had been a misunderstanding, 294; is besought not to leave Poplar, 295 Crown Lands and small holdings, 264

D Daily News Woolwich Election Fund, 188 Deaths from starvation, 278 Dickens, Charles, References to, 19, 32, 149, 118 Dock Strike, The Great, 67-69 Dolling, Father, 23, 166, 235 Drage, Mr. Geoffrey, 191, 193

E East India Company, The, 28, 29

F Fair Rent Courts advocated by Crooks, 162 Fair Wage Clause in the L.C.C.'s contracts, 87 Farm Colonies, 231, 243, 266, 268 Feeding Necessitous Scholars, 297-300 First offenders, Children as, 138 Foreshore reclamation, 220 Free Church Council, Crooks and the, 261 Free Trade defended by Crooks, 191, 214 Frenchman, A, on Poplar, 257 Fry, Mr. C. B., 148

G General Election of 1906, 200 George the Fourth at Blackwall, 31 Gorst, Sir John, 209 Government employees' wages, 203 Guardians, see Poplar Board of Guardians Guildhall Poor Law Conference, 121

H Hardie, Mr. Keir, 189, 195 Hills, Mr. A. F., 224, 226, 247 Hollesley Bay Farm Colony, 268 Holyoake, George Jacob, 42 Hungry 'Forties, The, 284

I Illness of Crooks, 241, 296

J Juvenile Offenders' Bill, 137

K King's Coronation Dinner to the Poor, 158, 169; his Majesty's visit to Poplar as Prince of Wales, 102

L Labour Co-partnership, 41 Labour Representation Committee, The, 199, 242 Laindon Farm Colony, 266 Lansbury, George, 105, 232, 235, 242, 249, 273, 276, 281 Lawson, Sir Wilfrid, 195 Libraries for Poplar secured by Crooks, 65, 174 Licensing Bill of 1904, 260 Liddon, Canon, 47 Little Englanders, 215 Local Government Board Inquiry at Poplar, 117, 183, 271-95 London County Council, 76-104, 297 Long, Mr. Walter, 116, 232, 281

M Mansion House scene, A, 157 McDougall, Sir John, 96 Metropolitan Asylums Board, 128 Minister for Labour wanted, 269 Monkswell, Lord, 99, 166 Morley, Mr. John, 208 M.P.'s investments, Crooks on, 210

O Oakum-picking, Cost of, 221 Old Age Pensions, 176-85 Open spaces for Poplar secured by Crooks, 98-100

P Parliament, Crooks's speeches in, 125, 202, 204, 245, 230, 246, 261, 265 Payment of Members, 204 Peruvian Frigate Mutiny, The, 30 Pirates hung at Blackwall, 29 Political Economy, Crooks on, 88, 150 Poor Law, Pensions paid through the, 179 Poor Law Commission, 243 Poor Law Schools, Parliamentary Committee on, 123 Poplar, A walk round, with Crooks, 25-32 Poplar Board of Guardians, Crooks and the, 105-27, 175-85, 234-40, 271-95 Poplar Labour League, 75, 166 Poplar Municipal Alliance, The, 272, and ff. Poplar Workhouse, Will Crooks an inmate of, 8-11; see also Poplar Board of Guardians Prince of Wales, The, and Crooks, 170

Q Queen Alexandra and the unemployed, 250

R Reformatory schools, 141 Remand homes, 136 Ritchie, Lord, 105, 137 Rosebery, Lord, 72, 89

S School of Marine Engineering at Poplar, Crooks and the, 101 Scientific starvation, 181 Sheldon, Rev. Charles, 148 Sims, Mr. George R., 148, 255 Slums as investments, 161 Small holdings, 264 South African War, Crooks's opposition to, 201, 263 Speaker, The, on the Woolwich by-election, 192, 201 Stanley, The Hon. Maud, 48 Stone-breaking condemned by Crooks, 222 Sutton Poor Law School, Crooks an inmate of the, 11-12 Sweated women, 3, 178, 207

T Talbot, Bishop, 196 Technical Education Board, The, 100 Technical Education for workhouse children, 124 Trade Unionism and Protection, 217 Trade Unionist, Crooks as a, 43, 53 Tree, Mr. Beerbohm-, 148

U Unemployed Act, 223, 243, 245 Unemployment schemes, 221, 232, 265

V Vanity Fair on Crooks, 208, 229

W Wages Fund, The Will Crooks, 75 Watermen, Old, at Poplar, 30 Welby, Lord, 96 Women's enfranchisement, 206 Women's march to Whitehall, The, 249 Women's wages, 178, 207 Woolwich by-election, 186 Woolwich Labour Association, 187 Workmen's drinking habits, Crooks on, 54 Wyckoff, Professor, 48

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