Peter Tevenan

Peter Joseph Tevenan (20 June 1857 – 11 April 1943) was an Irish-British trade unionist and politician.

Born in County Galway, Tevenan moved with his family to Liverpool when he was a young child. The family then settled in Chesterfield, Derbyshire where he worked first making pottery, then spent time as a miner, before finding work on the railways. Initially, he was a porter, then plate-layer, before becoming a signalman, and finally a station-master.

A supporter of trade unionism, Tevenan became active in the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, and served on its executive committee from 1891 to 1893.

After spending a period as an insurance agent and running to become an elected auditor in Stockport, in 1905 he found work as joint organiser of the Municipal Employees' Association (MEA), later becoming the union's North East District Secretary.

In 1913, Tevenan was elected as general secretary of the MEA. He was also active in the Public Services International, serving as its president for twelve years. He supported the merger of unions representing municipal workers; he took a leading role in the negotiations which formed the National Union of General and Municipal Workers in 1924. The MEA merged into the new union, and Tevenan served as one of its first two joint assistant general secretaries,

Tevenan was active in the Labour Party. At the 1918 United Kingdom general election, he stood as its candidate in Liverpool Edge Hill, taking second place with 36.2% of the vote. In 1924/25, he served on the party's National Executive Committee.

Tevenan retired in 1932 and died on 11 April 1943, at the age of 85.