He moved to a rival firm for a promised increase in wages, but this was not delivered and he was instead soon laid off, rendering him unemployed for two years until he was able to regain work at his original employer.
This enabled him to complete an apprenticeship; during this period, he also married Harriet Rosier, and became prominent in the local temperance movement.
They gave him funds to start a working men's club in Hungerford, and Lorenzo used this to promote the ideas of the Democratic Federation in the town.
He proved an effective organiser, in particular rallying unemployed workers and encouraging town councils to provide paid labour for them.
[1] The BSP affiliated to the Labour Party, and with its support, Quelch was elected to Reading Town Council for the Minster ward in 1914.