On this day in 1837 - Thomas Burt, acknowledged to be the first working class MP in Britain, was born in the North East of England. He began his working life as a boy of ten years old – at a colliery - his working day involved a four hour walk to and from work each day and a twelve hour shift underground. Thomas Burt was a lifelong abstainer coming from a Rechabite home and Temperance was central to his beliefs and life. In 1865 he was appointed the Secretary of the Northumb