Chris Braithwaite

Chris Braithwaite, also known as Chris Jones (1885 - 9 September 1944), was a black Barbadian who was leader of the Colonial Seamen's Association in the 1930s.

Life

Born in Barbados, Braithwaite went to sea with the British merchant navy as a teenager and travelled the world as a sailor. He then settled in Chicago and founded a family, before rejoining the Merchant Navy during World War I. After World War I he lived in New York for a while, before moving to settle in London, working for the Shipping Federation. He married a white woman, Edna, from Stepney, and they lived in Stepney.

Braithwaite became a member of the National Union of Seamen, and in 1930 joined the Seamen's Minority Movement, a rank-and-file group organised by the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). Taking the pseudonym "Chris Jones" to avoid victimisation by his employer, Braithwaite had joined the CPGB by 1931. He helped distribute the Negro Worker, and with Arnold Ward helped launch the Negro Welfare Association, publicising the case of the Scottsboro Boys. In 1933 he followed George Padmore in resigning from the CPGB in protest at the implicit shift away from anti-imperialism involved with the emerging "Popular Front" strategy.

Braithwaite

Coordinates: 54°36′06″N 3°11′31″W / 54.60170°N 3.19190°W / 54.60170; -3.19190

Braithwaite /ˈbrɛθɪt/ is a village in the northern Lake District, in Cumbria, England. Historically within Cumberland, it lies just to the west of Keswick and to the east of the Grisedale Pike ridge, in the Borough of Allerdale. It forms part of the civil parish of Above Derwent.

The eastern end of the Whinlatter Pass road is in the village. The A66 road bypasses Braithwaite, but does not enter the village.

Braithwaite is situated around Coledale Beck, a brook which joins Newlands Beck shortly after passing through the village. Newlands Beck (coming from the Newlands Valley) then flows north towards Bassenthwaite Lake.

Braithwaite has several pubs, including the Coledale Inn, the Royal Oak and the Middle Ruddings Hotel. Braithwaite is easily accessible due to its close proximity to the A66. It has a campsite with a caravan park, B + Bs, pubs and guest houses. It has a wide range of sports including sailing, climbing, abseiling, canoeing, hang-gliding, parasailing, orienteering, bird watching (For ospreys in the nearby lakes), photography and virtually any other outdoor pursuit all within four miles of the village.

Braithwaite (disambiguation)

Braithwaite is a village in the northern Lake District, England.

Braithwaite may also refer to:

Braithwaite (surname)

Braithwaite, Brathwaite, or Brathwait is a surname of English origin. At the time of the British Census of 1881, the relative frequency of the surname Braithwaite was highest in Westmorland (37.3 times the British average), followed by Cumberland, Yorkshire, Linlithgowshire, Lancashire, County Durham, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Anglesey and Flintshire. Notable people with the surname include: