|
BURSLEM & TUNSTALL CONSTITUENCY
MR. S. MALKIN, J.P.
------------------
LIBERAL AND UNIONIST CANDIDATE
------------------
SKETCH OF HIS CAREER
------------------
Manufacturer: Former Mayor of
Burslem: Wesleyan: Chamber of Commerce: Work for the
Crippled Children.
------------------
Mr. Sydney Malkin, J.P., The
Limes, Porthill, Burslem, the "Coalition Liberal" candidate for the
Burslem and Tunstall constituency, not only belongs to a family long
and intimately associated with the industry and the religious and
social life of the district, and with its Liberalism, but has
distinguished himself locally by his public service in many
directions, and is held in the highest respect and regard.
He was
adopted as Coalition Liberal candidate by the Liberals, and his
candidature was whole-heartedly endorsed by the Unionists. He has been
the official Coalition candidate since last December. With the
resignation of the Coalition Government he has remained a National
Liberal - the party led by Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Winston Churchill;
and there is every assurance that both on political and personal
grounds, the local Unionists will heartily and unitedly continue to
support him in keeping with the advice given to Unionists by Lord
Derby in his speeches in at Manchester and Bolton and elsewhere.
Most
of the Liberals in the Burslem and Tunstall constituency belong to the
National Liberal party, and there is no reason for doubting that Mr. Malkin will receive the votes of all Liberals, while he is also
assured of support from amongst those who are supposed to be
associated with the Labour Party.
The Liberal Club,
Market Street, Burslem
date stone: AD1892
The Liberal Club
mosaic on the pediment
Politics apart, Mr. Malkin will
undoubtedly receive very large support for local reasons - from the
general public as a genial neighbour and fellow-townsman of the
highest integrity, and from the business community because it is fully
realised how qualified and able he is to voice the trade and municipal
interests of the Potteries in the House of Commons and in the
Government Departments. The writer says this all the more freely, and
with all the more confidence, because nearly twenty years ago, after
hearing Mr. Malkin speak at a public meeting in Burslem , he suggested
in the columns of the "Sentinel" that if the local Liberals wanted a
candidate, they would find one of unusual stability in Mr. Malkin.
That opinion has only been confirmed, and with increased confidence,
this the passing years.
Ancestry and old Associations
There have been Malkins in the Potteries
for three hundred years and more, and a branch of them went off to
Leicestershire and founded a distinguished family there. Mr. Malkin's
grandfather was a working potter, a dipper, who suffered from lead
poisoning; he was maintained by his son, the late Mr. James Malkin,
during his later years, and was buried in St. Paul's Church-yard,
Burslem. Mr. Malkin's father (James Malkin) went as a lad to the
Anderton Canal Carrying Company, of which the first Lord Loch was a
director. Mr. James MacIntyre was manager, and when he went into the
pottery trade, Mr. James Malkin succeeded him as manager.
Mr. James Malkin (Mr. Sydney Malkin's
father) married the eldest daughter of Joseph Edge. The Edges came
from Horton, near Rudyard, where they occupied a considerable
position; but they lost their prosperity, and one of them Joseph Edge
(the great grandfather of Mr. Sydney Malkin) found himself as a youth
derelict in Newcastle Street, Burslem. The anecdote has come down that
he prayed for guidance as he walked, and that at that moment, a
townsman saw him and had compassion on him, and took him home to his
bakers' shop. When Joseph Edge's benefactor died he took over the
business.
This Joseph Edge had two sons and a
daughter. One of the sons was Joseph and the other Stephen. Mr. J.
Wilcox Edge, J.P., is the son of Joseph Edge, junior, while Mr.
Rathbone Edge, M.A. formerly Radical M.P. for Newcastle, is the son of
Stephen Edge. As Mr. Sydney Malkin's father married a daughter of Mr.
Joseph Edge, junior, Mr. Wilcox Edge is the uncle of Mr. Sydney
Malkin, and Mr. Rathbone Edge is the cousin of Mr. Sydney Malkin's
mother.
It is not necessary to recall the long
and valuable services of Mr. Wilcox Edge and Mr. Rathbone Edge to
Liberalism and the Wesleyan Church and the public life of North
Staffordshire. Mr. Wilcox Edge was one of the strongest political
supporters of Mr. William Woodall (Liberal) and Mr. Henry Broadhurst
(Labour) when they were elected for the undivided Parliamentary
Borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1880. Mr. Woodall subsequently
represented the Burslem Division (consisting then of Hanley and
Burslem) and Mr. Wilcox Edge has become the Grand Old Man" of North
Staffordshire Liberalism, and of its municipal life. He remembers very
well the visit of Mr. Gladstone, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, to
Burslem, on October 26th 1863, to lay the foundation-stone of the
Wedgwood Institute - just 59 years ago.
1851 map of Burslem
Town Centre
the Town Hall is marked in blue
(standing next to the meat market)
the Cork, Edge & Malkin potworks on Queen Street is marked in red
the Queen's Head public house (still standing today) is marked in
green
Cork, Edge &
Malkin potworks on Queen Street
now the site of the art school
Joseph Edge, jun., entered upon
teapot
making with Benjamin Cork, under the style of Cork and Edge, their
factory standing on the site of the present Art School in Burslem. Mr.
Cork was the father-in-law of the Rev. Frederick Wm. Macdonald, the
well-known Wesleyan minister. Mr. Sydney Malkin's father was
carried on as Cork, Edge and Malkin. Mr. Cork returned, and the firm
became Edge, Malkin and Co., at Newport Works.
Business Career
Mr. Sydney Malkin was born at No.1 The
Mount, Second Avenue, Porthill, on August 31st, 1865, and is therefore
just over 57 years of age. He attended Mr. Osmond's school at Shelton,
then the principal seminary of the district, and afterwards went to
the Newcastle High School, 1879-81, in the late Mr. F.E. Kitchener's
time. On leaving school he spent two years with the Manchester and
Liverpool District Bank, at Burslem and Macclesfield, and then joined
his father in the potting trade.
He was travelling in America for the
firm when his father died in 1894. Retiring from the firm of Edge, Malkin & Co., Mr. Sydney Malkin joined his brother, Mr. Elijah Malkin,
in the firm of Malkin, Edge & Co., tile manufacturers, and when this
was reconstructed in 1901, as the result of heavy and continuous work,
he became managing director of the Malkin Tileworks Company Limited,
Encaustic Tileworks, Burslem.
Edge & Malkin
majolica pottery leaf plate
Edge & Malkin
& Co
[impressed mark on the reverse of the plate]
Edge & Malkin & Co
trade mark
used c.1873-1903
Since that date his work has steadily
prospered and he is now also the managing director of the Marsden Tile
Company Ltd., Burslem, and a director of Oliver and Sons (Burslem)
Ltd., flint millers, Newport Mills, Burslem; and of Jesshope Ltd.,
Engineers and Ironfounders, Dale Street, Burslem; and of Messrs H.
Cordall, coopers, Burslem. Mr. Malkin is this associated with firms
employing several hundred work people, by whom he is greatly esteemed.
The firm has workpeople who have
been with it for fifty years, and there are grand-children of some of
those who started with him. The workpeople made a handsome
presentation to him on his marriage.
the calcining kilns
of Oliver & Sons
In the course of his business career,
Mr. Malkin has travelled extensively. During a journey round the
world, in 1904, he was in Pekin, and he heard the guns firing at the
Battle of Port Arthur, in the Russian-Japanese War. He has been six
time round the world, and in addition to travels in Europe, he has
been in America, Canada, Russia, the Malay Straits, Burma, Australia,
etc. He is therefore particularly well informed on home, Imperial, and
international trade and Imperial and world politics, very useful and
valuable in a member of Parliament, and his experience has constantly
confirmed his faith in the principle of Free Trade. Relatives of his
carry on a large business in Vancouver.
Public Work
Burslem School Board
Mr. Malkin began his public work as a
member of the old Burslem School Board, being elected for the South
Ward along with the late Mr. James Bowden. He was very energetic in
the cause of education. Joining the Burslem Town Council, he was the
first Chairman of the Electricity Committee, and was Chairman of the
Finance Committee for some years. He was Mayor of Burslem in 1907-8,
and was made a Justice of the Peace for Burslem.
Postcard of Queen's
Hall
the New Town Hall for Burslem
When the Federation
of the six Potteries towns into the County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent
was approached, he promoted the building of the New Town Hall for
Burslem, to assist in preserving the individuality of the Mother Town.
Successfully carried the scheme through in spite of opposition, and
the results have fully justified his efforts, for the Old Town Hall
has become useless, while the New Town Hall may be said to be crowded
every night, and without it Burslem would have been at a serious
disadvantage. There has been some slight damage from undermining, of
course, as in the case of other buildings in the town, but the
necessary repairs are being made, and the New Town Hall will remain
for generations, a testimony to the public spirit, foresight, and
energy of Mr. Malkin.
Mr. Malkin joined the Stoke-on-Trent
County Borough Council on its formation, as a representative of
Burslem, and was appointed an Alderman. He also became Chairman of the
Watch Committee, and a member of the Finance Committee etc. When the
Water Company promoted a Bill in Parliament, Mr. Malkin wished the
Stoke-on-Trent Council to insert a right-of-purchase clause.
This was
opposed by the late Ald. Geen, then Mayor, whose ruling led Mr. Malkin
to resign his Aldermanship, with a view to having a municipal contest
in Burslem on the question. Mr. Malkin's idea was that a Burslem
councillor would be appointed to the vacant Aldermanship, and that he
would then contest the seat. But Ald. Geen got the late Major Cecil
Wedgwood appointed to the vacant Aldermanship for Hanley, so that a
vacancy did not arise in Burslem, and Mr. Malkin's municipal work came
to an end, particularly as the War came on, and he gave himself to
public work to other directions.
Politics
Mr. Malkin is a life-long Liberal, and
began in his youth by supporting Messrs. Woodall and Broadhurst,
giving his support later to the late Mr. Enoch Edwards, while he also
joined in the adoption of Mr. Outhwaite as Liberal candidate for
Hanley and Burslem. He is a member of the National Liberal Club and
the 1920 Club, and he was also a member of the movement known as the
"Liberal Forwards." He has always supported Liberal and Democratic
principles and measures.
It may be recalled here that some years
ago, it was thought that an Educational Bill unfairly enables
denominational schools to share in the rates. Nonconformists protested
by means of what was known as "passive resistance" - when paying rates
they deducted and refused to pay the portion said to be for the
endowment of denominational education. They were summoned for
non-payment, and their goods were distrained upon. Mr. Malkin
underwent this experience, after a speech at Burslem Police Court in
response to the summons; but having thus formally joined in the
protest, he was content afterwards, as a law-abiding and sensible
citizen, to obey the law until amended by Parliament.
The Wesleyan Church
The Malkins and Edges have always been
devoted Wesleyans, associated with the Burslem Church. Mr. Malkin held
all offices, including those of Sunday School teacher and
superintendent, he has been a lay preacher in the Burslem Circuit for
38 years. He was Circuit Steward for six years, including the
difficult period of the War.
The War
During the War, Mr. Malkin devoted
himself to the National cause, being responsible for important
administrative work, with the rank of Lieutenant. Three of his four
sons were eligible for service and they served. Two were in France and
the third, unfit for general service, did duty in this country. One
son was gazetted to the 12th London as medical officer, and served in
France. Another son enlisted in the 5th North Staffords in August
1914, and afterwards received a commission. The third son joined as a
gunner on the day he was eighteen, and was in France with his battery.
Chamber of Commerce
Mr. Malkin has been a member of the
North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce for many years, and was
President during the War. As a representative of the Chamber of
Commerce, and also a representative of the pottery trade, he has been
brought in touch with Government Departments, particularly in
connection with the safe-guarding of the pottery trade during the War.
Lead, for instance, was rationed, and concessions were sought, so as
to interfere with the trade and employment as little as possible. The
supply of liquid gold was also curtailed, and this again was looked
into, so that decorative work could proceed. During the War also, the
importation of pottery into this country was prohibited. This was all
very well; but the State officials made this apply to broken samples
sent to be matched, a prohibition that made for the unnecessary and
irritating restriction of the English pottery trade, and Mr. Malkin
joined in calling attention to the need for a commonsense application
of the law.
Mr. Stanley Baldwin, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in
the new Government, was one of the Government officials whom Mr. Malkin met at that time. But while such details were needed
discussing, Mr. Malkin, knowing trade and foreign trade so well,
partly through being an exporter himself, remains a Free Trader. One
one occasion, he told the Chamber of Commerce, "We have stood with our
backs to the cupboard in which our principles are locked up, long
enough; let us take them out and examine them anew." But while always
ready to make an all-round examination of political and economic
problems, to keep up-to-date, he nevertheless is only confirmed by
experience in his attachment to Free Trade, as best for trade and for
the workers and the public.
The Haywood Hospital
Haywood
Hospital
in 2000
Mr. Malkin's association with
philanthropic work began when he was a member of the Burslem Town
Council. He was appointed a Governor of the Haywood Hospital, and he
found that there was an imperative need for further accommodation,
both for patients and nurses. The day and night nurses slept in the
same beds. He proposed the first enlargement scheme, and the money was
raised, and it was carried through.
The Crippled Children's Hospital
Mr. Malkin, as is so gratefully
recognised, has been a moving spirit in the work of providing
facilities for the treatment of crippled children in North
Staffordshire, and the founding and development of the N.S. Cripples'
Aid Society's Hospital at Hartshill.
North
Staffordshire Cripples' Aid Society's Hospital at Hartshill
[later used as a maternity block to the main hospital - now
demolished]
It was when he was mayor of Burslem that
his attention was first drawn to the subject. Finding that there was a
list of 56 cripples in Burslem, he visited each home at Christmas and
left a little present, and found that there were other cripples mot on
the books. The centre for the work was the at Hanchurch, and it was
suggested by Miss May that much more could be done if the treatment
could be given in the Potteries instead of so far away as Hanchurch.
The Record of Stoke and Mr. Malkin became jointly responsible for
taking a house in Wodehouse Street, Stoke, and this was no sooner
done, that the place was besieged by mothers bringing their crippled
children there for treatment. Within three months, Mr. Malkin looked
round for more commodious premises, and finding Longfields, at
Hartshill, for sale, he personally took an option on it, and then went
round to his friends and raised the money and bought the place for the
N.S. Cripples' Aid Society. He then took a leading part in procuring
the alterations and the later extensions, being the Chairman of the
House Committee; and then the ladies of the district promoted the
wonderful bazaar that realised £13,000 and paid of the debt.
Marriage
In 1891, Mr. Malkin married Miss Edith
Jordan Stormer, of Luton, and there are four sons. Two of them are in
business with their father, and the other two have taken up medicine.
Mr. and Mrs. Malkin shared in the war-time efforts of the Red Cross,
and Mrs. Malkin has also been specially interested in temperance work.
She provided the coffee stall at Swan Bank, Burslem, for the
convenience of tramcar men and other workers, and when its success was
assured, Mrs. Malkin handed it over to the British Women's Temperance
Association, under whose auspices it is continued.
When he was at school, Mr. Malkin played
Rugby football. He now plays gold and tennis, and he is a
vice-president of the Middleport Bowling Club. Living in his earlier
years at the Mount, Porthill, and then at Heatherlea, Park Avenue,
Wolstanton, Mr. and Mrs. Malkin went to live in Cobridge during their
early married life, but took the Limes, Porthill, some fifteen years
ago.
Conclusion
Mr. Malkin has a brisk, polished and
genial personality, full of earnestness and kindliness. He is a
Burslem man, a Burslem manufacturer, who would voice local sentiments
and interests in the House of Commons and in Government Departments
with intimate knowledge. But while so intensely local, he also takes
"the world for his parish," and is thus doubly qualified in in these
respects to be a member of Parliament for a manufacturing and
exporting district.
He is a ready, resourceful, and agreeable speaker,
as those who are familiar with his work as a Wesleyan local preacher,
President of the Chamber of Commerce, municipal representative, and
Parliamentary candidate, are well aware. There may be differences of
view on political theories; but while Mr. Malkin has the official and
cordial support of the Liberal and Unionist parties, there is probably
also general agreement that upon personal grounds at any rate he has
exceptionally satisfactory qualifications to be a local member of
Parliament for a local constituency.
|
