Mr John Scurr

Other sources: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4769024
https://eastendwomensmuseum.org/blog/julia-scurr-socialist-suffragette-and-poplar-rates-rebel
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866?1928 (1999)

Database linked sources: https://www.suffrageresources.org.uk/resource/3228/men-in-the-suffrage-movement

Family information: Married to Julia Scurr, a suffrage campaigner.

Additional Information: John was married to Julia Scurr, who did much organising for working class and poor women in the East End of London to ensure that their voices were heard in the suffrage campaign. John, who was involved with the socialist movement in London (see Other Activities), was for a time chairman of the local district dockers union (hardworking labouring men of the shipping docks, who had recently been on strike over low pay and poor conditions). John sent a steady supply of these burly men to act as bodyguards for WSPU women, who were at risk of violence from men when speaking in public. He later made the same arrangement for women in the breakaway group the United Suffragists (US), which he and his wife both supported. John was arrested in 1913 on charges of 'incitement to violence' for making a speech in support of women's suffrage in Norwich. In 1914, he became a member of the committee of the US and supported Sylvia Pankhurst's welfare work in the East End.

Other Suffrage Activities: John's politics were very much 'on the left'. He worked as a secretary for the Labour League in Poplar, London and by 1902 had joined the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), becoming its secretary by 1910. After leaving chairmanship of the local dockers union, he went to work for the left-wing Daily Herald newspaper and stood as a Labour Party candidate on several occasions. In 1923, he was elected for Stepney Mile End in London, and held his seat for ten years.