Thomas Hodgskin was an English socialist writer and a defender of free trade and early trade unions.  

In 1823, Hodgskin joined forces with Joseph Clinton Robertson in founding the Mechanics Magazine. In the October 1823 edition of the Mechanics Magazine, Hodgskin and Francis Place wrote a manifesto for a Mechanics Institute 

Hodgskin was a pioneer of anti-capitalism and his criticism of employers appropriation of the lion’s share of the value produced by their employees went on to influence subsequent generations of socialists, including Karl Marx. 

He contended that the “landlord and the capitalist produce nothing. Capital is the produce of labour, and profit is nothing but a portion of that produce”.  

Although relatively unknown today, Hodgskin deserves to be recognized as one of the founders of British socialism.