The First Albert Southwell

Thinking about my grandfather’s life ahead of writing his eulogy, the Kaneko Mitsuharu line: ‘to oppose is to live’ kept echoing through my mind. Through speaking to my grandfather on many occasions, I know one regret he had about his 95 years is that he did not oppose more. He felt like he had failed himself, his god and world as whole by not standing up more to a myriad of injustices. He once told me that it was not until decades after the death of his own father that he understood what a wonderful man my great-grandfather had been and how he felt he had not lived up to a family tradition of opposition.

My great-grandfather was drayman in Stoke Newington at the start of the 20th century. He stood up for and helped immigrants in the area, battling the prevailing prejudices of the time on behalf of any individual who was friendless and struggling. Whether they were Jews, Poles or shunned anarchists, he did his bit to help find them homes, jobs and take on the daunting maze of paperwork and bureaucracy ranged against them. These actions did not win friends in officialdom or within the predominantly Christian, white working class community he came from. At one point when jobs were scarce, my great-grandfather was sacked for taking time off to bring a union petition to Parliament. By all accounts, the first Albert Southwell was the type of man brave enough to oppose, even when opposition came at great personal cost.

Reflecting on lessons I want to take from my grandfather’s life, I hope I remember that as their last days surge towards them, no one ever seems to regret standing up for what is right. No one ever seems to feel remorse for fighting against unfairness, but many repent a life lived without enough opposing of what is wrong.