Catalogue Number
NMLH.2026.10.2
Object Name
whistle
People
Michael Waterhouse
Events
General Strike
Date
1926
Description
Small metal whistle used by special constable during the general strike. The whistle is on a link chain with a hook at the end, to allow it to be attached to uniform. The whistle is cylindrical with a narrowed section at one end. Sections of the sides have been removed to allow the whistle to sound. Stamped into the body of the whistle, there is some partially obscured text reading 'THE METROPOLITAN [J] HUDSON & Co, [244] BARR ST, BIRMINGHAM'.
Hudson & co was one of the two major whistle makers in England. This style of whistle was used by police forces.
The whistle was used by the donor's grandfather, Michael Waterhouse, during the General Strike. Waterhouse worked as an architect in his own firm during the 1920s, after an education at Eton and Oxford.
The General Strike begain on 3 May 1926, when the Trades Union Congress (TUC) called for a national strike. Almost two million workers withdrew their labour in support of miners who has been locked out of work after refusing to accept lower pay and longer hours. For nine days, Britain came to a standstill. The TUC ended the strike on 12 May without an agreement, and the miners continued striking for seven momths before poverty and starvation forced their return to work.
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