John Bruce Glasier

John Bruce Glasier ca. 1895

John Bruce Glasier (25 March 1859 - 4 June 1920) was a Scottish socialist politician.

Biography

Glasier was born in Glasgow as John Bruce, but grew up near Newton Ayr. Following the death of his father in 1870, he returned to Glasgow and followed his mother in adding the additional name of "Glasier", thereafter using Bruce as his middle name. He became involved with the Irish Land League's activities in Scotland, and in 1884 was a founder member of the Scottish Land Restoration League, while also joining the Social Democratic Federation (SDF). He joined the Socialist League split from the SDF, becoming the secretary of its Glasgow branch until 1889. In 1893, he joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP), and married Katherine St John Conway.

Glasier soon became one of the four main ILP leaders, and the editor of ILP News. In 1900, he succeeded Keir Hardie as chairman of the party, a post he held for three years. In 1903, he was elected to Chapel-en-le-Frith parish council. In 1905, he became the editor of Labour Leader.

In 1909, Glasier left the editorship position and resigned from the ILP's national council, along with Hardie, Ramsay MacDonald and Philip Snowden. The four were re-elected in 1910, and Glasier remained on the council until 1919. He opposed World War I, but in 1915 was struck by cancer. He continued to write until his death in 1920.

References

• Wrigley, Chris. "Glasier, John Bruce". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/38468.  (subscription or UK public library membership required)

Footnotes

Further reading

• Wilfrid Whiteley (ed.), J. Bruce Glasier: A Memorial. Manchester, England: National Labour Press, n.d. [1920].