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Joseph Pointer

Joseph Pointer (12 June 1875 – 19 November 1914) was a patternmaker who became a British Labour Party Member of Parliament. Born in the Attercliffe district of Sheffield, Pointer became a convinced socialist early in his life, and joined the Independent Labour Party. He attended Ruskin College in Oxford for six months to study Constitutional History and Sociology. On his return to Sheffield, Pointer took part in a strike, and was thereafter unable to gain regular employment. He was nonetheless elected Chair of the Sheffield Trades Council, and stood unsuccessfully for Sheffield City Council in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, he was finally elected for the Brightside ward. In 1909, J. Batty Langley, Liberal Party MP for Sheffield Attercliffe died, and Pointer stood for the Labour Party in the ensuing by-election. With the non Labour vote divided between the Liberal candidate, and both official and unofficial Conservative Party candidates, Pointer achieved a narrow victory, becoming Sheffield's first Labour MP. He held the seat in both the January and December 1910 general elections, which the Liberal Party did not contest. In the House of Commons, Pointer was appointed as a junior whip, but died in Sheffield in 1914 aged 39.

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Article summary

Joseph Pointer (12 June 1875 – 19 November 1914) was a patternmaker who became a British Labour Party Member of Parliament. Born in the Attercliffe district of Sheffield, Pointer became a convinced socialist early in his life, and joined the Independent Labour Party. He attended Ruskin College in Oxford for six months to study Constitutional History and Sociology. On his return to Sheffield, Pointer took part in a strike, and was thereafter unable to gain regular employment. He was nonetheless elected Chair of the Sheffield Trades Council, and stood unsuccessfully for Sheffield City Council in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, he was finally elected for the Brightside ward. In 1909, J. Batty Langley, Liberal Party MP for Sheffield Attercliffe died, and Pointer stood for the Labour Party in the ensuing by-election. With the non Labour vote divided between the Liberal candidate, and both official and unofficial Conservative Party candidates, Pointer achieved a narrow victory, becoming Sheffield's first Labour MP. He held the seat in both the January and December 1910 general elections, which the Liberal Party did not contest. In the House of Commons, Pointer was appointed as a junior whip, but died in Sheffield in 1914 aged 39.

Key claims

  1. date of death: 1914 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of death is "1914". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1365110322

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.