The Jarrow March, also known as the Jarrow Crusade, is one of the most significant protest movements in British history. It took place in October 1936, during a time of deep economic depression in the United Kingdom.
The march symbolised the desperation of working-class communities and their demand for government intervention. The 200 men who participated in this long, grueling trek from Jarrow to London sought to highlight the plight of the unemployed and the collapse of their town's industry.
Jarrow, a small town in northeastern England, had long been reliant on the shipbuilding industry. However, by the 1930s, this once-thriving sector was in a steep decline.
Jarrow's main shipyard, Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company, had been the lifeblood of the town, providing employment for generations of workers. When Palmer's closed in 1933, it devastated the local economy, leaving thousands unemployed. By 1936, Jarrow's unemployment rate was over 70%, leading to widespread poverty, hunger, and despair.
The town’s citizens, having exhausted other avenues of appeal to the government, decided that direct action was necessary to bring attention to their suffering. Thus, the Jarrow March was born.
On the 5th of October, 1936, 200 men from Jarrow, led by the town's mayor, marched 300 miles from Jarrow to London. Over 26 days, the marchers traversed the length of England, carrying a petition signed by 11,000 Jarrow residents, which they intended to present to Parliament. The petition called for action to address unemployment and for support to reopen industry in Jarrow.
These marchers were not professional agitators or members of organised political movements. They were ordinary working men, many of whom had lost their livelihoods and were struggling to provide for their families. Their peaceful demeanour and determination garnered sympathy along the route. Towns and villages offered them food and shelter, while local councils and unions lent support.
One of the unique aspects of the Jarrow March was its focus on practical demands. Unlike other protests during the 1930s, which were often ideologically driven, the Jarrow Crusade had a clear, specific aim: to rebuild Jarrow’s industry and create jobs.
“During the last 15 years Jarrow has passed through a period of industrial depression without parallel in the town’s history. Its shipyard is closed. Its steelworks have been denied the right to reopen. Where formerly 8,000 people, many of them skilled workers, were employed, only 100 men are now employed on a temporary scheme. The town cannot be left derelict.”
The Jarrow Crusade – Speech by Ellen Wilkinson, MP for Jarrow, in the House of Commons on malnutrition, 1936.
On October 31, 1936, the marchers arrived in London to present their petition. They had hoped to meet with Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, but the government offered little response. Parliament did not discuss the petition, and Baldwin refused to meet with the marchers.
Despite Hitler having taken power in Germany, the world economy still reeling from the fallout from the Stock Market crash in 1929, despite the Great Depression, in spite of all of this, the government decided to shut down an industry that gave men employment, dignity, and the ability to take pride in their work. And, an industry that would eventually save the country. So much for government wisdom.
And thus it was, only 3 years later, shipyards and steelworks were once again in great demand due to the outbreak of World War II. The government had not seen that war was coming and shipbuilding would be a top priority.
They, in short, stuffed up.
Had all the unemployed workers been allowed to voice their concerns, I believe that their voice would have been greater. In my opinion, the Jarrow March would have resounded had the thousands of displaced men and their families marched.....
Sending a delegation never works. It is only with the might of the people's voice that justice will be had.
When thousands or millions march, only then will the government realise that they are facing a force to be reckoned with. Petitions do not work. Marches do not work unless they are big. Angry voices do not work. (unless they are from certain others.... )
The Jarrow Marchers lost their credibility when they were told to choose a few to represent the many.
Only the many can represent the many.
What the Jarrow March proved was that the voice of the people is diluted when we choose the few to represent the many.
Had all the thousands of men, women and children marched to London, then we would have seen a different outcome.
We cannot ask the few to represent us when we object to tyranny and injustice. It takes the many to do that.
If you want change, send the men. Send the wives. Send the children. Send the only power we have. Our sheer weight of numbers.
It is the only way.
200 will not do it in as much as one elected member of government cannot make a difference.
I cannot begin to imagine how they felt as they left on that long road to Parliament in London. Did they feel expectation, hope or excitement? Or were they simply men in desperation? Trying to preserve what little was left to them by a government that seemed to have abandoned them? " The northern people of the Jarrow march were of strong character with steely determination," said one commenter.
Indeed they were. Steel was in their blood. What did they achieve? Well, Jarrow did eventually see some new industry opening. A ship-breaking yard and engineering works established in 1938.The industry of destroying their past, their present and their future.
Here is a song, long forgotten and rarely heard anywhere these days. It was about the breaking down of the ships and the lament of those that were forced to participate in the destruction of all that they held dear.
The song, " Goodbye Old Ship of Mine " was written in 1935 during the Great Depression when ships were being broken down for their steel and parts. Jarrow is in County Durham. This was not only about the loss of the ship , the Mary Ann, but more importantly about the loss of their jobs and their livelihoods. It is still apparently regarded as the song of the people of Jarrow and there are very few recordings of the song.
Words by Rod Arden, sung by my late Dad.
The Jarrow March was also known as the Hunger March.
Today, as the Governments around the world close down coal mines, oil pipelines and people's ability to earn a living, I cannot help but wonder why we have hundreds of thousands globally being cast out of work while our governments invite millions in to feed off the taxpayer's hard work.
Thousands came out to welcome the Jarrow marchers. Today?
The crowd would be arrested, fired with rubber bullets or pepper spray. It seems only people who hate our countries are allowed to march today.....
Australia is being bled of jobs as are other nations around the world. This time around, will it take hunger marches to change things? Or will it, like Jarrow, mean nothing?
We, like many countries around the world, are being fed sugary syrup words that, on face value, seem sincere. But when viewed through the lens of reality, we are being spoon-fed lies, deception and downright hypocrisy.
In short, our politicians are dismantling our shipbuilding, our steel works, our coal mines, our farms, our ability to feed ourselves so that we have no alternative but to feed off the government teat. Something seems wrong here.
I fear that we will see more hunger marches from unemployed and deserted citizens who head down roads and will be cheered on by the mocking glances of the newly imported " refugees " who are occupying our homes and taking our money and laughing as the poor disenfranchised workers march by.
Or will we be too cowered and too legislated against - that we will never march again? Arrested before we ever leave home because " our governments " have stifled our ability to speak, hear and see anything that does not fit the political narrative?
In America, the Keystone pipeline was shut down; the border wall at the Mexican border was abandoned; the borders flung open and in Australia, we are a shadow of the country we once were.
It is Open borders for migrants. Open borders for " anything goes " when it comes to sexual depravity, abortion and indigenous rights. Yet the people who built the nation are, like the good ship Mary Ann, being sent off to the scrap heap to be recycled.
In order to make way for the New World Order. Where hard working men are replaced by weak and insipid people hiding under the skirts of women.
Yet I will leave you with this thought: all of us who are proudly Australian or American came from the brave people who walked the roads less traveled and dared to cross the seas on ships like the Mary Ann. Our blood flows with the DNA from people who had the courage to say " No " to the old and strived to create a " New. "
But not this new " new. "
Is it time to march again?
Or are we merely lamenting the passing of what was and what will be lost, like the people of Jarrow, to a march to a government that no longer cares because it can do whatever it wants?
Is it time for defiant men to act in our time of great need?
Or, has that time already passed?
Read by Malcolm - while he was still part of our caring community here at PR.
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