Herbert E R Highton was born in 1886 and was an engineer in Glasgow, Scotland. During his career he acted as secretary to Glasgow members of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers who were suspended from the Society for striking without official approval in February 1919. He was also involved in the Clyde Workers Committee and presented lectures to the economics section of the Royal Philosophical Society. He was elected president of the Glasgow Trades Council (formed 1858) and during his term of office was part of a deputation that met with the then prime minister, Bonar Law, during his visit to Glasgow in 1922. The deputation questioned the prime minister concerning unemployment and the benefits that they received.
Source: Ian MacDougall,A Catalogue of Some Labour Records in Scotland(Edinburgh, 1978)