Edward Tupper

{{Short description|British trade unionist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

File:Edward_Tupper.jpg

Edward Tupper (12 April 1872 – 22 October 1942) was a British trade unionist active in the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union, who was particularly prominent in the 1911 strike in Cardiff.

Born in Worthing in West Sussex, Tupper joined the British Army in 1888, but was soon discharged on medical grounds. He joined the Liberal Party, and in 1903 was asked to be a Liberal-Labour candidate in Buckingham at the next general election, but turned this down.{{cite book |last1=Marsh |first1=Arthur |last2=Ryan |first2=Victoria |title=The Seamen |date=1989 |publisher=Malthouse Press |location=Oxford |pages=262–263}}

In 1910, Tupper met Havelock Wilson, leader of the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union (NSFU). Impressed by Tupper's skills, Wilson employed him as a private detective, and then in various union roles. Tupper was prominent in organising the 1911 seamen's strike."Captain Edward Tupper", Annual Report of the 1943 Trades Union Congress, p.149 By this time, he had invented a colourful history for himself. In a newspaper article, Tupper claimed to have been born in Hamilton, Ontario.{{cite journal|last1=Balfour|first1=Campbell|title=Captain Tupper and the 1911 seamen's strike in Cardiff|journal=Morgannwg|date=1970|volume=14|pages=62–80.|url=http://welshjournals.llgc.org.uk/browse/viewpage/llgc-id:1169834/llgc-id:1171388/llgc-id:1171459/getText|accessdate=10 August 2016}} However this and a number of other claims — that he had been a captain, that he was awarded the VC and that he had trained for the priesthood in a monastery – have not been substantiated and do not appear in his autobiography. Numerous travel logs for Tupper list his place of birth as England,New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960 and there is no record of his birth in Ontario.Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913

Tupper attended the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Delegates held on 3 June 1917 in Leeds.{{cite book|title=What Happened in Leeds|date=1917|publisher=Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Delegates|location=London}}

Tupper served as National Organiser of the union for many years, until his retirement in 1936.