ABSTRACT
In 1881 two or three labourers resolved to walk from Birmingham to London and get employment there at a big Gas Works. One of these men was Will Thorne. Their tramp was an ordeal of privation and physical suffering. In addition to Will Thorne, prominent men who aided in different degrees were Ben Tillett, Tom Mann, and John Burns. Will Thorne was soon appointed the first Secretary and for nearly forty-five years kept his post with little challenge. At the age of seventy-seven, when still a Member of Parliament, he retired full of dignity and honour, and with the sustained praises of all his colleagues. The Federation acted as a consultative and informing body on subjects which led to common policy among the Unions, and it did excellent work as a medium of approach to unfriendly employers when the voice of appeal represented a great combination of kindred societies instead of a voice which spoke only for one small body.
