Cremer was born to a working-class family in the southern English town ofFareham. His father was a coachman, who abandoned the family soon after Randal Cremer was born. His mother raised him along with his two sisters, ensuring he received an education at a localMethodist school. He augmented his knowledge by attending free lectures, was apprenticed as a builder and became a skilledcarpenter.[2][3]
Moving to London 1852, Cremer became active as a union organiser, swiftly becoming a recognized labour leader. Cremer was elected as the Secretary of theInternational Workingmen's Association in 1865 but resigned two years later in 1867, when the organization decided to make women eligible for membership. Being strongly opposed to women's suffrage,[4] Cremer might have now felt that the organisation was becoming too radical. While heavily involved in campaigning for progressive causes and respected byKarl Marx, Cremer did not agree with a worker-led revolution.[5]
From as early as his first unsuccessful run for Parliament in 1868, Cremer had advocated the expansion of international arbitration as peaceful alternative to war for the resolution of disputes.[5]
Using his platform as an MP, Cremer cultivated allies on both continental Europe and across the Atlantic, includingFrédéric Passy,William Jennings Bryan andAndrew Carnegie. Using his network of contacts and his talent for organisation, Cremer did much to create and expand institutions forinternational arbitration, which during his lifetime were successful in peacefully resolving numerous international disputes. This work includes co-founding theInter-Parliamentary Union and theInternational Arbitration League; gaining acceptance for the 1897Olney–Pauncefote Treaty between the United States and Britain that would have required arbitration of major disputes as theEssequibo territory (the treaty was rejected by the US Senate and never went into effect); and preparing the ground for theHague peace conferences of 1899 and 1907.[5]
In recognition of his work in the arbitration movement, Cremer won theNobel Peace Prize, the first to do so solo, in 1903.[6] Of the £8,000 award he donated £7,000 as an endowment for theInternational Arbitration League.[7]
Cremer died on 22 July 1908, leaving an estate of £2,241 (£1,803 net).[7] Cremer'sNobel Prize medal was sold at auction atSotheby's in London in November 1985 for $16,750 (equivalent to $48,970 in 2024)[10]
