James Colton | |
---|---|
Born |
Govan, Scotland | 12 May 1860
Died | 5 August 1936
Glanamman, Wales | (aged 76)
Occupation(s) | Activist, coal miner |
Known for | Marriage of convenience with Emma Goldman |
Spouse |
James Colton (12 May 1860 – 5 August 1936) was a Scottish anarchist, trade unionist and coal miner, who spent most of his life in Wales. He was known for arranging a marriage of convenience with the anarchist activist and writer Emma Goldman in 1925, so that she could obtain British citizenship.
Colton was born in Govan, Scotland, on 12 May 1860, [1] the son of Arthur Colton, a stonemason. As a child, he moved to Penarth in Wales; he first worked as a baker in Upper Boat, then later moved to Glanamman in the Amman Valley, where he became a miner at the Gelliceidrim Colliery. [2] Colton was self-educated and this led to him identifying with libertarian thought. [3] He first met Emma Goldman when she was giving a speaking tour in Edinburgh in 1895. [4]
Shortly after the death of Colton's first wife and knowing that Goldman needed British citizenship, after she had been deported from the United States in 1919, he proposed a marriage of convenience. [2] They married on 27 June 1925, Goldman's 58th birthday, [5] when he was aged 65; the couple were not friends and did not intend to live together. [6] Despite this, they occasionally maintained contact via letters. [2] [3] The marriage was reported in The New York Times the following year. [7]
After the death of Goldman's lifelong lover and friend Alexander Berkman, Colton, who was sick himself, wrote Goldman a letter expressing his sympathies. [5]
Colton died of cancer on 5 August 1936; [2] he was buried in the Tabernacle cemetery at Glanamman. [8] Goldman's last letter to Colton did not reach him before his death. [2]