Edward L. Poulton

Poulton was born in Northampton and worked making boots and shoes from an early age.

He joined the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives (NUBSO) in 1887, and was appointed secretary of its Northampton branch four years later.

He also became a Liberal-Labour politician, and was elected to Northampton's school board in 1895, then as an alderman on the council in 1898.

He was awarded the OBE in 1917, and served on the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) from 1916, acting as its President in 1921.

He was also active in the International Labour Office, serving as workers' vice-chairman from 1928 until 1931.

Poulton (third from left) as part of a Trades Union Congress delegation to Downing Street in 1925