In the early years of the 20th century, an Irishman called Robert Philip Noonan wrote a book that became a landmark in the history of the condition of the working man.

Noonan published under the name of Robert Tressell (this is the name I will use from now on in this article) and although its title is The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, it is thought by some to have had the original, more prosaic, title of The Ragged Arsed Philanthropists: this name most certainly has an Irish twang to it and being ragged arsed is a condition that working men of the time knew only too well!

The book is a tale of the destitute and poor of Mugsborough. Tressell is believed to have based his book on his own life and times in Hastings, on the South coast of England. Indeed, his daughter Kathleen used to say that she knew the real life characters on which the characters in the book were based.

The message of the book is that working people had to change the capitalist system, of which Tressell felt them to be the direct victims; and it is this central message that has served as an inspiration to people from all over the world and from all walks of life.

Not only was Tressell an accomplished observer of the human condition; but he was an artist of merit. Many examples of his work still exist and the figure below was rescued from St Andrew's Church in Hastings as the building was being torn down some years ago.

The Life of Robert Philip Noonan

What follows is adapted from materials found at The Robert Tressell Centre

Born Robert Philip (possibly Phillipe) Noonan (Croker) on 18 April 1870 in Dublin.
Around 1890: Having moved to England at an indeterminated date, it is believed that Robert left for South Africa from London.
15 October 1891: Married Elizabeth Hartel, age 18, at a Protestant church in Cape Town.
17 September 1892: Daughter Kathleen born in Cape Town.
1895(?): Wife dies of Typhoid fever.
August 1896: RT and Kathleen move to Johannesburg. RT is now a foreman and very good sign writer.
Early September 1901: The four people sail to England on the SS Galician.
Late 1901 or early 1902: The four come to Hastings
Late 1901 or early 1902: The four move to 1 Plynlimmon Road. RT works for Bruce & Co, Electrical and Sanitary Engineers and Builders, of 2 York Buildings where he is a relatively highly paid interior decorator, very skilled, virtually a class of his own. Apparently, his time at Bruce & Co was formative as it is felt that many incidents from the RTP are based on RT's experience at Bruce.
Late 1902 or early 1903: RT leaves Bruce and starts with Burton & Co, Builders and Contractors, Funeral Directors, Decorators, of 88 Stonefield Rd. RT also writes coffin plates.
15 January 1906: General election brought him into direct contact with politicians in the town, including socialists.
Sometime in 1906: Possibly as a result of conflict, RT left Burton's and began working for Adams and Jarrett's in Norman Rd and Alfred St.
1907: RT became more politically active: part of a hard core of militant socialists.
Late 1907 or early 1908: there is a-serious recession in the national building trade: many small firms in dire straits leading to cuts in standards, all of which is graphically illustrated in the RTP. This brings insecurity and greater risk of unemployment, plus seasonal lay off.
Late 1908-early 1910: A fair copy of RTP finished? The manuscript was nearly 1700 pages, handwritten. Sent to three publishers, all of which returned it.
1909: RT''s health worsening. By winter 1909/10 he was having serious bouts of ill health and he was spending more time at home than at work. He decides to emigrate. As the book has not worked he wants to go to Canada and start again. He made arrangements to go to Liverpool, with Kathleen who was 1 years old by this time.
August 1910: RT goes to Liverpool to earn the fare for his and Kathleen's trip to Canada: she never sees him again.
26 November, 1910: RT admitted to Royal Liverpool Infirmary (workhouse) hospital.
3 February, 1911: RT dies at the Infirmary of bronchial pneumonia. Buried as a pauper a week later.
23 April 1914: The RTP is published for the first time, in expurgated form, by Grant Richards Ltd. Cost 6 shillings. In 1946 the manuscript was found to contain 250,000 words, but only 150,000 of them were published in 1914!

PS 6 October 1955: Lawrence and Wishart publish the book in full, for the first time.

Download the Book

If you visit the Robert Tressell Centre site, you can follow a link to the Gutenberg Project from which you can download a ZIPped or txt version of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

Acknowledgement

Much of the above was originally taken in 1993 by Steve Peak of 36 Collier Road, Hastings TN34 3JR from:

"One of the Damned" by FC Ball, 1973

"The Robert Tressell Papers", by the Robert Tressell Workshop, 1982 with amendments by Joan Johnson 1999.

I am delighted to say that I have obtained permission from The Robert Tressell Centre to use the materials from their site on this page. I thank them for this permission and also thank them for reminding me of the Gutenberg Project.

Duncan Williamson
24 November 2001