ABSTRACT
James parker was elected as the first Labour Member of Parliament for Halifax in the 1906 landslide and took his seat as a member of the first Parliamentary Labour Party. Born at Awthorpe, near Louth, Lincolnshire, on 9 December 1863, the son of a farm labourer, his mother died when he was three. Despite this, he described his childhood as a happy one saying:
[F]or though I lost my mother at three years of age my sister filled her place with loving care for me, and as I was the youngest member of a family I was petted and spoilt. I was soon able to walk the two miles to the day school, a small one-roomed building where about 30 boys and girls were taught together the three ‘R’. When I was ten years old fate took a hand. With my sister we visited the West Riding, coming to Carlton near Yeadon. There she found a lover, and in a few months they were married. I was with them so Yorkshire has sheltered me for about 70 years. 1
