Children of Sarah and George Benson

BENSON—On December 31st, 1904, at Ivyhurst, Whalley Range, Charles Edwin Benson, aged 50 years (34 years with Messrs. Louis Behrens and Sons).—The funeral will take place at the Manchester Crematorium on Tuesday, the 3rd January, 1905, at 12.30 p.m.—Inquires to Messrs. Satterfield, By, and Co., 9, The Crescent, Salford. Telephone No. 2,473.

Mr. Charles E. Benson, who will be interred to-day, was one of the most respected grey cloth buyers on 'Change. He had been with the eminent firm of Messrs. Louis Behrens and Sons, of this city, for 34 years, though he was only 50 years of age at his death, which took place on the last day of the old year. He will be much missed in business circles. A man of fine facts.

BENSON George, SON, & LEEMING, 8 York-street, Manchester, estate agents and brokers. Nov. 1. Debits by Thomas D. Benson, who continues the business.

BENSON — FOX.—On the 6th inst., at the New Church, Bolton, by the Rev. H. Cameron, of Salford, Thomas D. Benson, son of the late George Benson, of Prestwich, to Ellen Mau, daughter of J. Foy, Esq., J.P., Stonewall, Bolton.

ALLEGED FRAUD IN A PROPERTY TRANSACTION.

HERITAGE v. BENSON AND SPURR.—The hearing of this case was concluded on Tuesday.—The plaintiffs, Joseph Heritage and A.C. Heritage, father and son, of New Bank-street, West Gorton, sought to recover from Thomas Duckworth Benson, accountant and estate broker, and Henry Reynolds Spurr, land and mortgage agent, the defendants, the sum of £200, alleged to have been obtained from the plaintiffs by fraud.—Mr. Gully, Q.C., M.P., and Mr. Parry were counsel for the plaintiffs; Mr. Ambrose, Q.C., M.P., and Mr. Sutton represented the defendant Benson; and Mr. Bradbury appeared for the defendant Spurr.—In the early part of 1888 the elder plaintiff bought for £200 the equity of some property at Longsight upon which there  was a mortgage of £900. He urged that he was assured the mortgage would not be called in so long as the interest was paid. In June the mortgagees called upon him to pay £50 by Christmas. This he was unable to do, and the mortgagees afterwards took possession of the property, and directed the tenants to pay the rent to them. The Heritages submitted that the defendants had induced the elder plaintiff to invest his savings in the property by statements they knew to be unfounded. Mr. Spurr, in his defence, said the only representation made was that, so far as the defendants knew, the mortgage would be allowed to remain if the interest was regularly paid. Before the completion of the purchase the plaintiffs were told that the mortgage would have to be reduced by instalments, the first to be paid at Christmas of the same year.—Mr. Benson denied that he ever represented that the £900 could remain till the plaintiffs could reduce it. Additional witnesses for the defendants were called.—The Judge, in summing up the evidence to the jury, said the question was one of great importance to the chief plaintiff, inasmuch as the verdict decided the fate of the savings of his long and laborious life. But the verdict was of even greater importance to the defendants. If the verdict was for the plaintiffs, it would for many purposes have the operation of a conviction for perjury and forgery, and probably conspiracy against Mr. Benson and Mr. Spurr, and also not identically the same offences but very nearly the same offences, and especially the offence of perjury, with regard to the solicitor, Mr. Parkinson.—The jury found for the defendants, and judgment was entered accordingly.

SANDBACH Joseph, Southport and Liverpool, formerly Manchester, estate agent, died May 11, 1892. Claims to T.D. Benson, 8 York-st., Manchester, receiver, by Aug. 16 Adjudication, Registrar's chambers, Manchester, Oct. 4 at 12.

LIGHTFOOT v. BENSON AND SMITH.—In this action the plaintiffs, Henry and Robert Lightfoot, electrical engineers, Cooper-street, Manchester, claimed damages from Thomas Duckworth Benson and Robert Smith, the proprietors of the Trevelyan Buildings, Corporation-street, Manchester, for breach of contract in regard to an electric lighting installation. The defendants counter-claimed for damages on the ground of the unsatisfactory character of the work. [ . . . eventually the parties agreed to a verdict for the plaintiffs for £70 and costs.

T.D. Benson made his debut as a speaker, and developed an unsuspected capacity for putting his case in clear, forcible language. He managed to enthuse the Conference over its financial position and the possibilities of the future.

A meeting of protest against the arrest of the defendants is to be held in Stevenson Square, this evening. The friends of the aggressive movement are also opening a defence fund, of which Mr. T.D. Benson, of The Downs, Prestwich, is to be treasurer. [ . . . ]

Mr. Benson, in his evidence, said he had been treasurer of the party for seventeen years. He had three sons serving in the army, two holding commissions as lieutenants. They offered themselves before compulsory service came into force. The balance-sheets of the party were certified by auditors. He denied that German money came into his hands. He was in favour of peace by negotiation.

Cross-examined: The society was not a Bolshevik society. He sustained no loss through the publication of the libel. His eldest son was a conscientious objector, and had been imprisoned for his opinions.

I.L.P. TREASURERSHIP.

In an appeal for funds by the Independent Labour Party in this week's issue of the "Labour Leader," signed Mr. Philip Snowden (chairman) and Mr. T.D. Benson (treasurer), it is announced that Mr. Benson, who has occupied the post of treasurer for 18 years, has notified his intention of resigning owing to continued ill-health.

OBITUARY.

The "Daily Herald" announces the death on Wednesday of Mr. T.D. Benson, who was the treasurer of the I.L.P. from 1902 to  1920. He was an associate of Keir Hardie. Ramsay MacDonald, and Philip Snowden in the early days of the I.L.P.

On the 23rd of June, at Firwood, Disley, Thomas Duckworth dearly loved husband of Ellen Maud BENSON. Service at Manchester Crematorium on Monday June 28 at 11.30am. No flowers by request. Friends please accept this (the only) intimation. Inquiries to Messrs Kendal Milne and Co.

A READER sends me a postcard which in effect says how much better we should be under Socialism. since there would then be no wars. Strange to say my only comment on that is that we are living under Socialism to-day. In the late 'nineties of last century there came to reside at Roby House, Clitheroe. (now re-named Barraclough) a wealthy Manchester stockbroker by name Thomas Duckworth Benson. He was a Socialist and Editor of a high-brow publication named "Uses," which he maintained at his own expense, refusing to allow it to be "tainted" with advertisements. To-day his son, Mr. George Benson, who was educated at Clitheroe Grammar School, is a Labour Member of Parliament. T.D. Benson was the Treasurer of the I.L.P., and persona grata with all the leading Socialists of his day. At Roby House he entertained them at week-ends. "Them" included Keir Hardie, Tom Mann. Bruce Gloster, Harry Quelch (Editor of the Socialist paper, "Justice"). Philip Snowden, Ramsay MacDonald, Harry Chatterton, Catherine St. John Conway and other well-known names at that time. Most of them spoke from "the big lamp" in Clitheroe Market Place and caused a great sensation. "T.D." (Benson) as he was familiarly called, was a local live wire. Dr. Alfred Musson was his M.O. and he succeeded in making the ultra-Tory Dr. Alfred half a Socialist for the rest of his days. But some of the men I have here mentioned have been dead thirty years. If either T. D. Benson or Keir Hardie came back to life and were asked, "What about that Socialism you prophesied in your time on earth?" they would promptly reply, "You have got it." Socialism has been put into operation by a Tory Government, by the very men who throughout their lives so far have held up their hands in holy horror of Socialism. Boiled down, Socialism is the nationalisation of the means of production. distribution and exchange. Take production. The cotton mills of Lancashire are run not by the manufacturers but by the Government. The Government tell them what they must do and what they must not do. They have gone one better than the pioneer Socialists, some of whom meant to buy out the capitalists and some of whom were prepared to confiscate their assets. The Government has done neither. It simply tells them to stay put and they will run the show. No cotton manufacturer in Clitheroe today runs his mill. The trade unions and the Government between them run it for him. Cotton is only one item of production. The Government has not bought out the shipbuilders and the other owners of war industries. It has taken possession of their properties and is now directing them for war purposes. Hardly an industry remains unaffected. The railways are still nominally owned by the shareholders, but the Government runs them. The Government are in complete possession. Shipping, which takes British-produced goods overseas. is exactly in the same position. The owners are not bought out, but they must do precisely as they are told nevertheless, neither more nor less. Next we come to exchange. All that happens in normal times between one nation and another is not a matter of paying for what you get but adjusting the balance periodically, if and when it is against you. So the Socialism of Keir Hardie and T.D. Benson is in existence at this very moment. And it has come about not in spite of all the opposition which the possessing classes set up against it but because they cannot help themselves, for they support with both hands the same Government which has completed the process. That is my reply to my reader's postcard. Incidentally it may be asked why then are the present-day Socialists still not satisfied. The answer is that the world advances. Hitler is trying to put the clock back many centuries, but he is foredoomed to failure. To-day the Socialists are as far ahead of the prevalent Socialism as their predecessors were of the forces of reaction. "T.D.," who led the way in Clitheroe, was essentially a gradualist. He was not out for revolutionary changes, and the steps taken to emancipate the workers since his day, if not all that he might have desired, would have been a source of real gratification to him. He firmly believed in evolution, not revolution. Benson was "hail fellow well met" to everyone, and was in the confidence of men like Hardie, Snowden and Ramsay MacDonald. Many week-ends, especially the two former, did they spend at Roby House and it was his frequent visits to Clitheroe, which led to Philip Snowden speaking often on the Blackburn market ground, which ultimately led in turn to his selection as the party Parliamentary candidate at Blackburn and later to his election to Parliament as Member for Blackburn. Had Benson not come to Clitheroe, Snowden might never have represented Blackburn, since he would not have become so well known there. These reminiscences are inspired by my reader's postcard. It was in Benson's time that Sir William Harcourt, a Liberal leader whom many expected would take on the mantle of William Ewart Gladstone, astonished Parliament with the observation "We are all Socialists nowadays," which he obviously meant not in the literal sense but that all sections of the community had become converts to a progressive programme. Hitler pretends to be an advocate of progress by adhering to what he calls National Socialism, but the "National" cancels the "Socialism" and leaves his system stranded. The only progress he recognises is progress in the reverse gear.

FARNWORTH.

MARRIAGE OF AN EMPLOYER.—At the New Jerusalem Church, Salford, on Wednesday, were solemnised the nuptials of Mr. Thomas H. Briercliffe, of Moses Gate, eldest son of the late Mr. Robert Briercliffe, cotton spinner, Farnworth, and Miss S. L. Benson, Higher Broughton, daughter of the late Mr. George Benson, of Prestwich. Amongst the presents forwarded the happy pair was one from the workpeople at the Farnworth Mill, Mr. Tom being much respected amongst them.