Alice Vs The Tripe Man

I first heard Alice Foley's name in Jonathan Rose's incredible book, 'The Intellectual Lives of the British Working Class' where he stated,

"for her, a liberal education for the proletariat was not merely a means of achieving socialism: it was socialism in fact, the ultimate goal of politics"

I made a note (which I underlined) to find out more as soon as I could. She's maybe not a forgotten hero, but certainly a trade union hero that deserves a great deal more recognition. I was incredibly fortunate that a speculative email to the NW Labour History group produced a response from Alan Fowler who has written a number of books on the Trade Unions in the textile industry and was a brilliant source of information. I also got a copy of A Bolton Childhood, her story of growing up in poverty in Bolton. Of all the books I've read for this research, it's one of my favourite. The opening line describes the night she was born when the family had to make a quick exit as they couldn't afford the rent.

“I was born on a scurvy, inhospitable day, in late November, 1891, a premature victim of nature and the hazards of a ‘moon light flit’”

Alice in later life*

Alice went on to become the first woman to be secretary of a cotton union but faced enormous discrimination along the way. At one point the Assistant Secretary's job was advertised which she went for. To get the role candidates had to sit a maths exam as one of the principal roles of an organiser was working out the piece rates. It's always assumed that Alice came top but it was decided to leave the post vacant. When it was re-advertised the following year, it made clear that women needn't apply.

Her Honourary MA from the University for services to adult education*

As Rose noted above, education was hugely important in her life. Her older sister, an active trade unionist herself, encouraged her and Alice attended the evening school. However, her choice of subjects (economics and logic) brought her before the Chair and Director of the Education Committee. The former, "operated a number of tripe shops in the town and he enquired why a nice, quiet girl wanted to study economics and logic. I murmured, I suppose in order to impress, that I knew a little about Karl Marx and Das Kapital, although the extent of my knowledge was limited to overhearing a cursory discussion in my sister’s circle. Both gentlemen frowned heavily and, following a few solemn whispers between them, the tripe man announced with a touch of finality that I would be allocated to a millinery class at the Women’s Institute as more suitable to my aptitude and ability" A Bolton Childhood

Her real love of education was born during a month's WEA Summer School at the University of Bangor. From there, she went on to serve the WEA for much of her life, both at a local and national level.

"It was a month of almost complete happiness; a pinnacle of joy never to be quite reached again. The spirit of the WEA was to sustain and accompany me through long years of humble toil." A Bolton Childhood

I would like to thank the archivists and workers at Bolton Library and Archives for helping me go through all Alice's archives and historian Alan Fowler for taking the time to talk to me about the unions in the textile industry.

Bolton Library and Archives. So good they have an aquarium.

*images from the Bolton Archives