Jarrow March 1936

• In October 1936, mass unemployment and extreme poverty drove 200 men to march 300 miles from the Tyneside town of Jarrow in the north-east of England to London. They carried a petition signed by 11000 people, calling for the re-establishment of industry in Jarrow. They also wanted to generate sympathy for the unemployed.  
• The march was triggered by the closure of Palmers shipbuilding yard, the main employer of the area (once employed 10000 men), which became bankrupt in July 1932. In the summer of 1934, the National Shipbuilders Security (NSS) acquired Palmers and began dismantling it.  
• An American investor was convinced Jarrow, due to its existing rail network, docks and labour force, was the ideal place for a new steelworks. However, the British Iron and Steel Federation put pressure on London’s financial institutions not to back the scheme, so no new steelworks were built in Jarrow.  
• The idea of a march was backed by the Jarrow Borough Council, the local mayor, the town’s Labour MP (Ellen Wilkinson), local business, commercial and religious groups.  
• The march was meticulously organised. The route was planned, publicity organised and the overnight stops pre-booked. Medical students volunteered to accompany the marchers in case of problems and 200 medically fit men were selected out of 1200 volunteers. A second-hand bus was also purchased to carry cooking equipment, food, blankets etc. Over £1500 was raised to meet the costs.  
• Support for the march was mixed: 

  • Some stopovers – greeted warmly and provided good quality accommodation, spare clothes etc – others, only beds at the local workhouse 
  • General public lined to route of the march 
  • Labour Party Conference (October) criticised Wilkinson  
  • Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the National Executive Council of the Labour Party told branches/trade unions not to offer any assistance/support 
  • Bishop of Durham criticised the Bishop of Jarrow for giving the marchers the church’s blessing 
• On 1st November, they reached London and joined a rally against hunger in Hyde Park by the Communist Party where the size of the crowd varied between police estimates of 3000 and 50000 estimated by a journalist.  
• On 4th November, Wilkinson presented the Jarrow petition to the House of Commons. After a few minutes of ill-tempered discussions, the government moved onto other matters. The Jarrow marchers returned home by train and found that the government had cut their unemployment benefit and dole money since they hadn’t been available for work, even though there was no work to be had.  
• Jarrow itself gained nothing in the short term and some viewed the march as a waste of time. However, it can be argued that it helped pave the way for the post-1945 social reforms.