Philip Bagwell
Encyclopedia
Philip Bagwell was a prolific and widely-respected British
labour and transport historian
.
Born in Ventnor
, on the Isle of Wight
, he grew up in a radical tradition. His father was a conscientious objector
in the First World War, and although Bagwell rejected pacifism
, he maintained a lifelong commitment to radical social causes associated with Christian socialism
, a commitment that infused all his major published work.
Bagwell was a life-long advocate of public transport and especially of the economic, social and cultural virtues of railway travel. He wrote the official history of the National Union of Railwaymen
, published in two volumes in 1963 and 1982. His The Transport Revolution became essential reading on university economic and social history courses.
He spent most of his career (from 1951) at the Polytechnic of Central London (later the University of Westminster
), where in 1972 he was given one of the first professorships created in the polytechnic sector of British higher education. He continued to write influential and impeccably researched books, pamphlets and articles on public and communal issues in transport policy in a period when official opinion in Britain was gradually swinging increasingly towards purely private emphases.
A committed Christian
and an active Methodist, he also wrote the standard history of the West London Mission, British Methodism
's most ambitious and extensive long-term project of service to the poor and disadvantaged in central London, and particularly associated with Donald Soper
.
A researcher of tireless energy, at the time of his death, aged 92, he was writing a new book on global warming and transport policy, a topic he saw as of crucial moral and social significance for the future.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
labour and transport historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
.
Born in Ventnor
Ventnor
Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea...
, on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, he grew up in a radical tradition. His father was a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
in the First World War, and although Bagwell rejected pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
, he maintained a lifelong commitment to radical social causes associated with Christian socialism
Christian socialism
Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated. This category can include Liberation theology and the doctrine of the social gospel...
, a commitment that infused all his major published work.
Bagwell was a life-long advocate of public transport and especially of the economic, social and cultural virtues of railway travel. He wrote the official history of the National Union of Railwaymen
National Union of Railwaymen
The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. It an industrial union founded in 1913 by the merger of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants , the United Pointsmen and Signalmen's Society and the General Railway Workers' Union .The NUR...
, published in two volumes in 1963 and 1982. His The Transport Revolution became essential reading on university economic and social history courses.
He spent most of his career (from 1951) at the Polytechnic of Central London (later the University of Westminster
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
), where in 1972 he was given one of the first professorships created in the polytechnic sector of British higher education. He continued to write influential and impeccably researched books, pamphlets and articles on public and communal issues in transport policy in a period when official opinion in Britain was gradually swinging increasingly towards purely private emphases.
A committed Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and an active Methodist, he also wrote the standard history of the West London Mission, British Methodism
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
's most ambitious and extensive long-term project of service to the poor and disadvantaged in central London, and particularly associated with Donald Soper
Donald Soper
Donald Oliver Soper, Baron Soper was a prominent Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist.Soper was born at 36 Knoll Road, Wandsworth, London, the first son and first child of the three children of Ernest Frankham Soper , an average adjuster in marine insurance, the son of a tailor, and his...
.
A researcher of tireless energy, at the time of his death, aged 92, he was writing a new book on global warming and transport policy, a topic he saw as of crucial moral and social significance for the future.
Main publications
Books:- The Railwaymen: The History of the National Union of Railwaymen (London: Allen & Unwin, 1963)
- The Railway Clearing House in the British Economy 1842-1922 (London: Allen & Unwin, 1968)
- Britain and America: A Study of Economic Change, 1850-1939 (with G. E. Mingay) (London: Routledge, 1970. Japanese edn, 1970)
- Industrial Relations (Shannon: Irish University Press, 1974)
- The Transport Revolution from 1770 (London: Batsford, 1974. Second extended edn, London: Routledge, 1988)
- The Railwaymen, vol 2, The Beeching Era and After (London: Allen & Unwin, 1982)
- End of the Line: The Fate of British Railways under Thatcher (London: Verso, 1984. Japanese edn, 1985)
- Outcast London, A Christian Response: The West London Mission of the Methodist Church 1887-1987 (London: Epworth, 1987)
- Transport in Britain 1750-2000: From Canal Lock to Gridlock (with P. Lyth) (London: Hambledon, 2002)
Other sources
- On the Move: Essays in Labour and Transport History presented to Philip Bagwell (eds. C. Wrigley and J. Shepherd) (London: Hambledon Press,1991)