Thomas Worrall Casey

Thomas Worrall Casey (13 October 1869 – 29 November 1949) was a British Liberal politician and Trade Union leader.

Thomas Worrall Casey
Member of Parliament for Sheffield Attercliffe
In office 1918–1922
Preceded by	William Anderson
Succeeded by	Cecil Wilson
Personal details
Born	(1869-10-13)13 October 1869 Sheffield, England
Died	29 November 1949(1949-11-29) (aged 80) Sheffield, England
Political party	Liberal

Background

He was born in the Intake district of Sheffield, as the son of William and Jemima Ann Casey. He was educated at Gleadless Church School. He was married in 1894. He had two sons and three daughters. In 1916 his eldest son was killed in the First World War, Alphius. His memorial can be found in Thiepval in the Lancaster regiment.^[1]

Trade Unionism

He started work at 12 years of age on a farm. At 13 he went to work at Birley Colliery, near Sheffield, where he remained until 18 years of age. He was employed at this time as an engineman. He left and started at Cadeby Colliery, near Rotherham, as a winding engineman, and remained there for 24 years. On leaving he was presented with a Gold Hunter Watch by workmen and officials. He was elected as the General Secretary of the National Winding and General Engineers' Society, serving for 25 years.

Politics

At the 1918 general election, Casey was elected for the Sheffield Attercliffe constituency. He benefitted from being endorsed by Prime Minister David Lloyd George.

General election 1918: Sheffield Attercliffe^[2] Electorate 35,923

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Thomas Worrall Casey	12,308	65.3
	Labour	William Anderson	6,539	34.7
Majority			5,769	30.6
Turnout				52.5
	National Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

In parliament, he joined Lloyd George's Liberal group that was to form itself into the National Liberal Party. He lost his seat at the 1922 general election.

General election 1922: Sheffield Attercliffe^[3] Electorate 34,671

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Cecil Wilson	16,206	68.2
	National Liberal	Thomas Worrall Casey	7,562	31.8
Majority			8,644	36.4
Turnout				68.6
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Following Liberal reunion in 1923 he contested Ilkeston in 1923,

General election 1923: Ilkeston^[4] Electorate 31,503

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Oliver	9,191	42.1	+2.1
	Unionist	William Marshall Freeman	6,566	30.0	+5.3
	Liberal	Thomas Worrall Casey	6,112	27.9	-7.4
Majority			2,625	12.1	+7.4
Turnout				69.4	-7.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.6

He then moved to contest Gloucester in 1929 as a Liberal. He finally fought Rotherham in 1935 as a Liberal National.

General election 1935: Rotherham^[5] Electorate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Dobbie	29,725	67.5
	National Liberal	Thomas Worrall Casey	14,298	32.5
Majority			15,427	35.0
Turnout				76.7
	Labour hold		Swing

With this final loss, he gave up on Parliamentary politics. He was elected to Mexborough Urban District Council. He was a Justice of the Peace in the city of Sheffield. He was a Methodist lay preacher for 60 years.

He died in Sheffield aged 80.

References

1. ‘CASEY, Thomas Worrall’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2007 accessed 1 January 2014
2. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
3. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
4. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
5. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig

• Michael Stenton and Stephen Lees, Who's Who of British MPs: Volume III, 1919–1945

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Thomas Worrall Casey

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Anderson	Member of Parliament for Sheffield Attercliffe 1918–1922	Succeeded by Cecil Wilson