John Burns

John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly associated with London politics. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was anti-alcohol and a keen sportsman. After retiring from politics, he developed an expertise in London history and coined the phrase “The Thames is liquid history”.
Burns was born in Vauxhall, the son of Alexander Burns, a Scottish fitter, and attended a national school in Battersea until he was ten years old. He then had a succession of jobs until he was fourteen years old and started a seven year apprenticeship to an engineer at Millbank and continued his education at night-schools. He read extensively, especially the works of Robert Owen, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Paine and William Cobbett. A French fellow-worker, Victor Delahaye, who had been present during the Paris Commune introduced him to socialist ideas, and Burns…