Obituary: Albert Young

Obituary: Albert Young

We have learned of the death recently of Albert Young, of Walthamstow, at the age of 64. Comrade Young represented a remarkable association with the socialist movement. His grandfather was an active member of the Social-Democratic Federation. His father, Percy, and his uncle, Byron Young, both joined the Socialist Party of Great Britain about 1906. Byron was a well-known speaker for the Party for several years before he emigrated to Australia in the nineteen-twenties, and Percy remained a member since 1945, first in the old Leyton Branch and then in Hackney.

A lively, forceful person, Albert Young kept a stall in a London market (the family were craftsmen brushmakers). He was always anxious to expound and discuss socialism, and there must be many people who remember chance meetings with him in art galleries or on trains, and the comments on society thrown out as he sold things from his stall. His special interest outside the Party was in art; he was a talented amateur painter, and went out in the country whenever possible to find subjects for landscapes. In 1968 he had a serious operation, and was able to go out very little thereafter.

Our condolences go to his family. Their socialist tradition is carried on by Albert’s son, who is a member of the Party – the fourth generation.