Jarrow March
The Jarrow March, also known as the Jarrow Crusade, was a protest march from 5 to 31 October 1936 in which 200 medically selected unemployed men from the shipbuilding town of Jarrow in Tyne and Wear, England, covered nearly 300 miles to London to petition Parliament for government aid in re-establishing local industry amid severe economic hardship following the closure of Palmer's Shipyard, the town's main employer.[1][2] Organized by Jarrow Borough Council under Councillor David Riley and accompanied by Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson, the participants—mostly former shipyard workers—departed after a church service, marching in disciplined formation with support vehicles and a petition signed by over 12,000 residents decrying unemployment rates above 70 percent and associated poverty, including high infant mortality.[1][3][2] Deliberately styled as a "crusade" rather than a hunger march to distance itself from communist-led protests by the National Unemployed Workers' Movement, the event sought broad public sympathy through orderly conduct and appeals to Christian values, enduring rain, fatigue, and variable reception en route.[2][1] In London, the group demonstrated at Hyde Park but failed to secure a meeting with Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who cited prior engagements; the petition was accepted by Parliament without debate or commitment, and the marchers returned home after 26 days with no direct concessions, their unemployment benefits temporarily withheld on grounds of voluntary unemployment.[1][4] Though yielding negligible immediate causal effects on policy or employment—Jarrow's recovery aligning instead with national economic upturn from protectionist measures and rearmament—the march gained retrospective symbolic status as an exemplar of communal resolve against industrial decline, influencing cultural narratives despite its practical inefficacy.[4][1]Economic Context in Interwar Britain
Unemployment Patterns and Structural Causes
In interwar Britain, unemployment displayed chronic persistence, averaging around 10% throughout the 1920s before surging to a peak of over 22% in 1932, when approximately three million insured workers—roughly one in five of the labor force—were unemployed.[5][6] Rates rarely dipped below 9.5% even in periods of relative stability, reflecting a departure from prewar norms where unemployment hovered under 5%.[7] The incidence was disproportionately higher among males (often 50% above female rates), older workers, and those in manual occupations, with insured unemployment data showing marked seasonal and cyclical fluctuations overlaid on this baseline.[8][9]| Period/Year | Unemployment Rate (Insured Workers) |
|---|---|
| 1920s average | ~10%[6] |
| 1932 peak | >22% (3 million unemployed)[5] |
| 1938 | ~13%[10] |
Government Policies and Responses to the Depression
The Labour government under Ramsay MacDonald, facing a mounting budget deficit amid rising unemployment that reached over 2.5 million by 1931, responded with austerity measures including proposed cuts to unemployment benefits and public sector salaries.[16] This fiscal orthodoxy aimed to restore confidence in Britain's finances but exacerbated economic contraction in export-reliant industries like shipbuilding.[17] The political crisis culminated in the formation of the National Government on August 24, 1931, a coalition dominated by Conservatives after MacDonald's Labour Party split, which prioritized balancing the budget through the Unemployment Insurance (No. 3) Act of September 1931. This introduced the Means Test for transitional benefits, requiring household asset and income assessments by officials to determine eligibility, often reducing payments and sparking widespread resentment in distressed areas.[18][19] The policy reflected a commitment to fiscal restraint over expansive relief, contrasting with later deficit-financed approaches elsewhere, and contributed to unemployment peaking at nearly 3 million (22% of the insured workforce) by January 1933.[20] A sterling crisis in September 1931 forced Britain off the gold standard on September 21, enabling devaluation of the pound by about 30% against the dollar, which boosted export competitiveness and facilitated recovery in manufacturing and housing by mid-1932.[21][22] However, heavy industries in regions like Tyneside saw limited benefits, as structural decline persisted amid global oversupply. Shifting from free trade orthodoxy, the Import Duties Act of February 1932 imposed a general 10% tariff on non-empire imports (with exemptions for raw materials and food), marking protectionism's return and encouraging imperial preference via the 1932 Ottawa Agreements.[23] This reduced import competition but had muted effects on unemployment in staple trades, as demand recovery favored consumer goods over capital goods like ships.[24] Public works initiatives remained modest, emphasizing self-financing projects like road improvements and afforestation rather than large-scale Keynesian stimulus; the 1934 Special Areas (Development and Improvement) Act targeted "depressed" zones including Jarrow with commissioners for training and migration subsidies, but funding was inadequate—total expenditure under £1 million annually—and failed to reverse industrial decay.[20][25] The Unemployment Assistance Board, established in 1934, centralized benefits but retained means-testing rigor, underscoring a policy framework that privileged macroeconomic stability over targeted regional intervention, leaving northern shipbuilding towns like Jarrow with chronic joblessness exceeding 70% by 1936.[17]Prior Protest Movements and Their Outcomes
The National Unemployed Workers' Movement (NUWM), established in 1921 and closely affiliated with the Communist Party of Great Britain, coordinated a series of national hunger marches to protest mass unemployment and inadequate relief during the interwar period.[26] These marches preceded the Jarrow March by over a decade in some cases and focused on demands such as increased unemployment benefits, abolition of restrictive qualification rules, and opposition to cuts in relief payments.[27] The NUWM's efforts drew thousands of participants from depressed industrial regions, but their communist leadership often led authorities to view them as politically subversive rather than legitimate expressions of economic distress, resulting in limited official engagement.[28] The inaugural national hunger march occurred in 1922, amid a post-World War I slump that saw unemployment exceed one million. Approximately 2,000 marchers from various regions converged on London over several months, starting in October 1922, to demand better support for the jobless.[26] Prime Minister Bonar Law refused a meeting, citing the marchers' "undemocratic leadership," while police enforced strict controls, including arrests for public order violations.[29] No immediate policy concessions followed, though the event highlighted regional disparities in relief systems, which remained tied to outdated Poor Law principles.[27] Subsequent marches intensified after the 1929 Wall Street Crash exacerbated structural unemployment in coal, steel, and shipbuilding. The 1929 march involved 800–1,000 participants from nine contingents arriving in London by early March, protesting benefit restrictions; it prompted a temporary suspension of the 30-stamp contribution requirement for insurance claims.[26] The 1932 march, the largest prior to Jarrow, saw around 2,500 workers march to London in October, culminating in rallies at Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park attended by up to 150,000 supporters. Demands centered on reversing a 10% benefit cut and scrapping the newly imposed means test, which assessed household resources to reduce payouts. Police responded with baton charges and cordons, leading to hundreds of arrests, while a petition bearing one million signatures was presented to Parliament but yielded no substantive government action.[27] Later NUWM actions, including the 1934 march and localized protests peaking in 1935 with over 300,000 participants in South Wales alone, pressured authorities amid ongoing dole reductions.[27] These efforts contributed to partial reversals, such as the restoration of the 10% benefit cut in 1935 and the Distressed Areas (Development) Act of 1934, which allocated limited funds for infrastructure in hard-hit zones but failed to address underlying industrial decline or create sustained jobs.[27] Overall, the marches achieved modest relief adjustments through sustained agitation but were hampered by state containment strategies, including surveillance and portrayal as extremist threats, preventing broader policy shifts; unemployment remained above 2 million through much of the 1930s.[28][26]Jarrow's Industrial Decline
Origins and Peak of Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding in Jarrow began in 1851 when Charles Mark Palmer, a shipping magnate and colliery owner, established Palmer Brothers & Co. on land previously used for shipbreaking along the River Tyne. Palmer aimed to capitalize on the growing demand for efficient bulk carriers to transport coal from Northeast England mines, leasing the site from local landowner Cuthbert Ellison.[30][31] The yard's inaugural launch was the iron-hulled screw collier John Bowes in 1852, a 450-ton vessel that marked an early advancement in iron ship construction for bulk cargo, enabling faster and more reliable sea voyages compared to wooden sailing ships. Rapid expansion followed, with an engine works added in 1853 to produce marine engines in-house and acquisition of ironstone mines in 1857 to secure raw materials. By 1865, the firm reorganized as Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, incorporating blast furnaces and rolling mills for vertical integration, which reduced costs and supported large-scale production.[31][32][33] Jarrow's shipbuilding reached its zenith in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, driven by global demand for tramp steamers and naval vessels amid imperial expansion and trade growth. At peak operations, the yard employed approximately 10,000 workers and launched over 900 vessels across its history. From 1881 to 1890, it delivered 214 cargo ships and six warships, expanding to nine building berths at Jarrow by 1890, plus three at nearby Willington Quay. Output crested around 1900, with 30,127 gross registered tons produced from five berths, reflecting the yard's role as a key contributor to Britain's dominance in merchant and ironclad shipbuilding.[30][34]Mismanagement and Closure of Palmer's Yard
Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company, established in 1852 by Charles Mark Palmer, experienced recurrent financial strains exacerbated by management decisions prioritizing expansion amid volatile market conditions. In the 1890s, strikes and low orders resulted in a £33,000 loss in 1890-91, prompting the board to accept Palmer's resignation as chairman in 1893 due to insolvency threats and poor returns, leading to a separation of financial and industrial management.[34] Subsequent acquisitions under Sir Charles Furness in the early 1900s, including the 1904 purchase of R. Stephenson’s yard at Hebburn, and further expansions under Lord Furness from 1910—such as new machinery and berth consolidations—increased operational scale but accumulated debt, as post-World War I slumps reduced demand for new builds in favor of second-hand vessels.[34][35] The Great Depression intensified these vulnerabilities, with management overestimating future ship demand and investing excessively, contributing to a trading loss of £88,867 in 1931 alone—equivalent to about £5.5 million in contemporary terms—following the 1929 Wall Street crash and global overcapacity in shipbuilding.[35][34] Despite the yard's relative efficiency and modernity, chronic low orders and industry-wide contraction left it unable to service debts, culminating in receivership risks and asset vulnerabilities.[36][30] In 1933, amid efforts to rationalize excess capacity, National Shipbuilders Security Ltd acquired Palmer's yard, imposing a restrictive covenant that precluded shipbuilding for 40 years and leading to the site's demolition by 1935, except for the retained Hebburn dry dock.[32][33] This closure, driven by both firm-specific overinvestment and broader causal factors like Britain's eroded shipbuilding monopoly to foreign competitors and post-war trade shifts, eliminated Jarrow's primary employer, affecting thousands.[35][34]Local Socioeconomic Conditions Pre-1936
Jarrow's economy prior to 1936 was predominantly centered on shipbuilding, with Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company serving as the principal employer and sustaining the livelihoods of the majority of the local workforce, either directly or through ancillary industries. The yard, established in the late 19th century, had at its peak launched over 1,000 vessels and supported a population heavily reliant on maritime-related labor, where shipbuilding accounted for up to 80% of employment opportunities in the town.[37][38] This industrial focus rendered Jarrow vulnerable to fluctuations in global shipping demand, exacerbated by post-World War I overcapacity and shifts in international trade patterns that diminished orders for new tonnage. The onset of the Great Depression in the late 1920s accelerated the decline, as reduced export markets and protectionist policies abroad curtailed British shipbuilding viability. Palmer's yard, plagued by financial mismanagement and mounting debts, ceased operations in 1933 under the auspices of the National Shipbuilders Securities scheme, which rationalized the industry by enforcing closures to limit competition. This shutdown eliminated thousands of jobs—previously supporting around 8,000 workers at the yard and steelworks combined—leaving the local economy devoid of its core engine and triggering a cascade of redundancies in supporting trades such as engineering, transport, and provisioning.[2][38] Unemployment rates in Jarrow surged to approximately 70% of the insured working population by 1935, far exceeding national averages and reflecting the town's near-total dependence on the shuttered yard. With a population of around 35,000 in the early 1930s, primarily working-class families, the absence of alternative industries meant prolonged joblessness for skilled laborers, many of whom possessed specialized shipbuilding expertise ill-suited to relocation or retraining amid restrictive labor policies. Public assistance and transitional payments provided minimal relief, often capped at subsistence levels that failed to offset the loss of wages averaging £3-4 weekly pre-closure.[3][4] Socioeconomic conditions deteriorated markedly, manifesting in acute poverty, malnutrition, and strained public health. Overcrowded terraced housing, typical of industrial Tyneside, worsened with multiple families sharing inadequate dwellings lacking modern sanitation, contributing to elevated disease incidence and infant mortality rates roughly double the national figure of 60 per 1,000 live births. Local reports documented increased reliance on charitable soup kitchens and means-tested dole, alongside social strains such as youth emigration and family disruptions, underscoring the causal link between industrial collapse and community-wide destitution without viable governmental intervention to stimulate recovery.[39][40]Planning the March
Role of Local Leaders and Ellen Wilkinson
Local leaders in Jarrow, facing acute unemployment after the 1933 closure of Palmer's Shipyard, initiated planning for a protest march to London in mid-1936. Councillor David Riley, chair of Jarrow Council, proposed the crusade as a means to petition the government for economic relief, emphasizing its non-political and non-sectarian nature to maintain broad support.[41][1] Riley served as the march's marshal, leading the 200 selected unemployed men who departed from Jarrow Town Hall on October 5, 1936, and he explicitly rejected donations from communist organizations to avoid association with the National Unemployed Workers' Movement.[1][2] Ellen Wilkinson, Jarrow's Labour MP since her election in 1935, was instrumental in the march's organization and execution, leveraging her parliamentary position to publicize the town's plight. Having previously led local protests against industrial decline, Wilkinson helped coordinate logistics, including funding from community contributions and brass band accompaniment, while ensuring the petition focused on reopening a steelworks rather than broader ideological demands.[42][1] She marched alongside the participants for much of the 282-mile route, enduring the physical hardships to symbolize solidarity, and upon arrival in London on October 31, 1936, she presented the petition—signed by 12,000 locals—to Parliament on November 4, though it received no substantive response from the National Government.[41][42] Wilkinson's involvement elevated the crusade's national visibility, framing it as a disciplined appeal for work rather than unrest, distinct from contemporaneous communist-led hunger marches.[1][2]Distinction from Communist-Led Hunger Marches
The Jarrow March of October 1936 was deliberately organized independently of the National Unemployed Workers' Movement (NUWM), a communist-affiliated group that had led multiple "hunger marches" to London since 1922, including large-scale demonstrations in 1927, 1930, 1932, and 1934 involving thousands of participants from across Britain.[4] These NUWM marches, backed by the Communist Party of Great Britain, often featured confrontational tactics, clashes with police, and calls for revolutionary change against capitalism, which alienated mainstream Labour leaders and the Trades Union Congress (TUC), who feared association with Soviet-inspired agitation.[43] In contrast, Jarrow's organizers, including local councillors and figures from the Independent Labour Party (ILP), rejected NUWM involvement to maintain a moderate, non-revolutionary image and appeal to broader public sympathy.[4] To underscore this separation, the Jarrow event was branded the "Jarrow Crusade" rather than a hunger march, evoking religious and orderly connotations over militant protest, with participants carrying a petition signed by 11,000 residents specifically requesting government support for a new steelworks to revive local industry, rather than systemic overthrow.[44] The march maintained strict discipline, prohibiting alcohol consumption, singing of "The Red Flag," or any revolutionary rhetoric, and emphasized constitutional methods like presenting the petition to Parliament on October 31, 1936, without attempting mass disruption.[43] While Ellen Wilkinson, the Labour MP who joined and publicized the effort, had briefly been a Communist Party member in the 1920s before aligning with Labour, the leadership under David Riley and local authorities explicitly avoided communist branding to differentiate from NUWM actions, which had drawn accusations of extremism from authorities and media.[45] This distinction influenced reception: unlike NUWM marches, which faced bans and hostility, the Jarrow Crusade garnered more favorable press coverage and encounters with supportive locals along its 282-mile route, as its restrained approach aligned with British traditions of petitioning rather than insurrection.[4] Historians note that by eschewing communist leadership, Jarrow's organizers aimed to pressure the National Government through moral suasion and evidence of distress in shipbuilding-dependent Tyneside, where unemployment exceeded 70% following Palmer's yard closure in 1933, rather than ideological confrontation.[44]Funding, Logistics, and Participant Selection
The funding for the Jarrow March was derived from limited local resources and small-scale public appeals, reflecting the severe economic constraints in the town where unemployment exceeded 70% among insurable workers. Jarrow Borough Council, which endorsed the petition drive on July 20, 1936, contributed modestly through administrative support, while a dedicated fund was raised by organizers to cover essentials like basic provisions and to assist families of participants during the absence.[46][2] No significant external sponsorship was secured, and costs remained low due to the march's reliance on walking and donated sustenance rather than paid transport or elaborate equipment. Logistical planning emphasized practicality and sustainability over spectacle, with a predefined route spanning approximately 282 miles from Jarrow to London, segmented into 22 marching days averaging 12-15 miles daily, interspersed with rest periods to mitigate fatigue.[47] The itinerary, coordinated by local leaders including council chairman David Riley, incorporated stops at sympathetic towns for overnight shelter in public halls, schools, or workers' hostels, and anticipated reliance on charitable meals from trade unions, churches, and residents en route.[41] Participants carried essentials such as banners, a petition in an oak casket, and minimal personal gear, with advance notifications sent to authorities to preempt disruptions, as documented in Ministry of Labour communications to the Home Office on September 26, 1936.[2] Over 1,200 unemployed men from Jarrow volunteered to participate, but selection was restricted to 200 individuals deemed the fittest and most resilient to ensure the group's endurance over the demanding journey.[48] Candidates were subjected to medical evaluations to verify physical suitability, prioritizing those capable of sustained walking without exacerbating health issues common among the malnourished unemployed.[40] The process, overseen by organizers to avoid favoritism, focused on representing the broader shipbuilding workforce affected by the Palmer's Yard closure, excluding those with overt political affiliations to maintain the march's non-partisan character as a civic appeal rather than a hunger march.[4]The March Itself
Departure and Route Overview
![Jarrow Marchers en route to London](./assets/Jarrow_Marchers_en_route_to_London_$3084877308 The Jarrow March commenced on October 5, 1936, when 200 unemployed men departed from Jarrow in County Durham, England, heading southward to London to protest industrial decline and petition Parliament for economic relief.[47][49][41] Led by local figures including Councillor David Riley and accompanied by Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson for part of the journey, the marchers carried a petition signed by over 11,000 Jarrow residents, bound in a red morocco volume, demanding the resumption of shipbuilding and steel industry support.[50][4] The route spanned approximately 282 miles over 26 days, with marchers averaging 10-15 miles per day, six days a week, resting on Sundays and one additional day.[41][47] The path proceeded south through industrial towns in northern England, crossing into the Midlands before reaching the capital, avoiding major cities where possible to minimize disruption while seeking overnight accommodations in town halls and support from local communities.[47] Key stops included:| Stage | From | To | Miles | Arrival Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jarrow | Chester-le-Street | 12 | Oct 5 |
| 2 | Chester-le-Street | Ferryhill | 12 | Oct 6 |
| 3 | Ferryhill | Darlington | 16 | Oct 7 |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| Final | Edgware | Marble Arch, London | - | Oct 31 |