Jarrow march

Jarrow march

1. why was the jarrow march organised?

   • jarrow was the worst affected town because most people relied on Palmers shipyard as employment and after the first world war the shipyard started to decline
   • orders from shipyard dried up completely and unemployment rose from 3245 in 1929 to 7178 in 1933
   • palmers alo faced another problem which was that ships were being made bigger and the shipyard could not fit these big boats which meant it had to be closed down completely
   • families would stuggle very much as they would do anything to be able to survive and the death rates and the mortality rates were monitored and showed that malnutrition and poor health were very high
   • in 1936 jarrow made one last effort to save unemployment by organising a march which aimed to attracct attention to the plight of the town by taking a petition all the way to London parliament

2. what happened during the jarrow march?

   • the marchers covered over 450 km in 22 stage. 200 men marched from jarrow to london , led by the mayor ellen wikinson. they marched in their best clothes and were cleanly shaven to make sure they had the best possible impact on the people that they passed.
   • as the marchers made their way south they were completely surprised by the reception that they recieved. everywhere they went they recieved great support and sympathy. they were put up in church halls and given free meals and their shoes were also repaired free of charge. newspapers also published accounts of their progress.
   • when they arrived in London they recieved little support or sympathy by members of government

3. what did the jarrow march achieve?

   • achievements
     • petition mentioned closure of shipyard and the high number of unemployed and asked the gov to give supoort to town without delay.
     • machers very given alot of support during the actual march. the march improved the public image of hunger marches. the police also praised the marchers for being well organised and disciplined. the men returned to jarrow as heroes.
   • limitations
     • the march and the petition did nothing to stir gov into action. stanley baldwin refused to make any comment on being presented with the petition
     • his response was predictable as e did th same in 1926 when he forced the general strike to come to an end.