Edward Gill

Edward H. C. Gill (1879 – 1923), often known as Ted Gill was a British socialist activist.

Gill was born in Leominster in Herefordshire; his family moved to Abertillery in Wales when he was ten years old. He left school and worked, becoming a coal miner five years later. Despite his shyness, he came to prominence in the South Wales Miners' Federation, which sponsored him to study at Ruskin College from 1907 to 1909. While at Oxford, he was a founder member of the Plebs' League, and thereafter frequently spoke in favour of workers' education. He also joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and devoted much time to it, arguing in favour of the nationalisation of the mines.

Like most of the ILP, Gill initially opposed World War I, stating that "unless strenuous efforts are made to organise anti-war feeling, we are on the eve of a holocaust too terrible for contemplation". Within days, however, he changed his mind, joining the 10th South Wales Borderers. Unexpectedly, he received a commission as a second lieutenant, and also qualified as a machine gun instructor before sailing to France at the end of 1915. While in the trenches at Festubert, he crawled into no man's land three times. He organised a retreat of troops at the advanced posts, and then rescued an injured soldier, for which action he was awarded the Military Cross.

Gill travelled to campaign for the Labour Party in the 1923 Morpeth by-election, but the strain on his health led to his death.