{{Short description|British trade union leader (1913–1975)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Use British English|date=April 2018}} '''Edwin Marsden''' (26 April 1913<ref name="death">''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007''</ref> – 30 August 1975) was a British trade union leader, communist activist, and political candidate.
==Biography== Eddie Marsden was born in the Openshaw area of Manchester.<ref name="stevenson">{{cite encyclopedia |publisher=Graham Stevenson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202033433/https://www.grahamstevenson.me.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1113:marsden-eddie&catid=13:m&Itemid=114 |url=http://www.grahamstevenson.me.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1113:marsden-eddie&catid=13:m&Itemid=114 |title=Marsden Eddie |archive-date=2 February 2017 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Communist Biographies}}</ref> He was raised in a working-class family with four brothers and three sisters.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Bro Eddie Marsden |journal=Journal{{snd}}Engineering Section |publisher=Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers |volume=42 |year=1975 |location=London |page=507 |lccn=80645909}}</ref> He trained as a draughtsman but instead became a steel erector.<ref name="obituary">Trades Union Congress, "Obituary: Eddie Marsden", ''Annual Report of the 1975 Trades Union Congress''.</ref> In 1935 he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). Marsden was said to have been radicalised in opposition to the spread of fascism, as evidenced by the Italian invasion of Abyssinia.<ref name="society">''New Society''. Vol. 27. 1974. p. 120.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Robert |title=The Fifth Estate: Britain's Unions in the Seventies |year=2018 |orig-date=1978 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1138334489 |page=123}}</ref> In the 1930s he also joined the Constructional Engineering Union (CEU), and was a site steward for more than thirty years.<ref name="obituary" />
In 1952, Marsden was elected to the executive of the CEU, representing the region of North West England.<ref name="stevenson" /> In 1962 he became the region's full-time organiser,{{sfn|Taylor|2018|p=83}} also representing the union on the executive of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions.<ref name="stevenson" /> Meanwhile, he was increasingly active in the CPGB, serving on its Lancashire and Cheshire District Committee.<ref name="stevenson" /> In 1968 he was elected to the party's Executive Committee.<ref name="stevenson" /> He stood as the Communist candidate in the December 1963 Manchester Openshaw by-election, receiving 4.9% of the vote.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harker |first=Ben |title=The Chronology of Revolution: Communism, Culture, and Civil Society in Twentieth-Century Britain |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2021 |page=139 |isbn=978-1487507398}}</ref> He stood again unsuccessfully for the seat in the 1964 and 1966 general elections.<ref>F. W. S. Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1973''</ref>
Marsden was elected as general secretary of the CEU in 1968.<ref name="obituary" /> Three years later the CEU became part of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (AUEW), albeit remaining largely autonomous, with Marsden continuing as general secretary of the AUEW's newly formed Construction Section.<ref name="directory">{{cite book |last1=Exton |first1=Jack |last2=Gill |first2=Colin |title=The Trade Union Directory |year=1981 |publisher=Pluto Press |location=London |pages=92–95}}</ref> He also played a significant role within the Trades Union Congress, which raised his public profile.<ref name="stevenson" />
Eddie Marsden died in August 1975, while still holding his AUEW post.<ref>{{cite news |title=Death of union leader |newspaper=Hull Daily Mail |date=1 September 1975 |via=Newspapers.com |page=9 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/898732481/ |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{start box}} {{s-npo|union}} {{succession box|title=General Secretary of the Constructional Engineering Union|years=1968–1971|before=Ernie Patterson|after=''Position abolished''}} {{succession box|title=General Secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers (Construction Section)|years=1971–1975|before=''New position''|after=John Baldwin}} {{end box}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsden, Eddie}} Category:1913 births Category:1975 deaths Category:20th-century British trade unionists Category:Communist Party of Great Britain members Category:General secretaries of the Amalgamated Engineering Union Category:People from Openshaw Category:Trade unionists from Manchester