Burns, John Elliot (1858-1943)

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Mentioned in (12)
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John Burns to Jane Addams, April 28, 1915

Jane Addams to John Burns, October 23, 1916

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Birth Date

1858-10-20

Death Date

1943-01-24

Birthplace

Vauxhall, England

Biographical Text

John Burns received his early education at a national school in Battersea. When he was fourteen, he became an apprentice for an engineer while continuing to take night classes. In 1878 he was arrested for having an open address and demonstration on Clapham Common, and in 1881 he formed a branch of the Social Democratic Federation in Battersea. He also worked as an engineer and went to the West African Coast for a year while working for the United Africa Company, though he disapproved of how Europeans treated Africans. Afterward, he went on a six-month tour to study political and economic conditions in France, Germany, and Austria. In 1884, Burns was elected to the Social Democratic Federation's executive council. He was later arrested twice for taking part in demonstrations and unlicensed meetings on unemployment and labor, and in 1889 he also took part in the London Dock Strike. Later that year he became a Progressive member of the first London County Council, and in 1892 he became a Member of Parliament for Battersea. In 1905 he was the President of the Local Government Board, and in 1914 he was appointed President of the Board of Trade, though he resigned as soon as World War I started. Politically, he was a Radical, but he was a member of the Liberal Party.

Burns Martha Charlotte Gale in 1882. Burns died in 1943.

Occupation

Engineer

Judge

Politician

Source

Picture from The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Rise of the Democracy, by Joseph Clayton

Collection

People

Map

Edited By

Lichon, Sara Catherine

Rights

Public domain

Gender

Male

First appears

1905

Bibliography and Links

London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921

Wikipedia

Citation

“Burns, John Elliot (1858-1943),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed July 26, 2025, https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/1573.

Burns, John Elliot (1858-1943)

Item Relations

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Edgar Addison Bancroft to Jane Addams, February 23, 1910

Edward B. Butler to Jane Addams, December 9, 1910

Emily Greene Balch notes, April 26, 1915

Comments on President Wilson, May 12, 1915

Henrietta Octavia Rowland Barnett to Jane Addams, June 21, 1915

Jane Addams to Emily Greene Balch, June 26, 1915

List of foreign dignitaries who met with International Congress of Women delegates July 28, 1915

Jane Addams to Paul Underwood Kellogg, August 18, 1917

Pioneers in Sociology, June 7, 1928

John Burns to Jane Addams, April 28, 1915

Jane Addams to John Burns, October 23, 1916

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