William Edwin Adams (11 February 1832 – 13 May 1906) was an EnglishRadical and journalist.[1]
Adams was born inCheltenham,Gloucestershire,England, the son of a tramping plasterer.[1] He was influenced by the works ofThomas Paine andGiuseppe Mazzini, whom he regarded as "the greatest teacher since Christ".[1] He also believed that community self-government and community representation to be "the essence of all political liberalism that is worthy of the name".[2]
Adams believed that theAmerican Civil War "was the greatest question of the centuries. It was greater than theGreat Rebellion, greater than theFrench Revolution, greater than thewar of Independence...as great as any that has been fought out since history began".[3]
From 1864 until retiring in 1900, Adams was editor of theNewcastle Weekly Chronicle, where (under the pseudonym Ironside) he advanced internationalism, trade unionism,co-operatives andLib-Labism.[1] He deplored the rise ofsocialism in the 1880s and after a serious illness he abandoned politics for local concerns. These includedbowling greens for workers, tree planting and free libraries and parks for the people. Due to worsening health, he spent winters inFunchal,Madeira,Portugal, where he died and was buried. A marble bust of Adams was unveiled byThomas Burt MP on the first anniversary of his death.[1]
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