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Does Red Clydeside Really Matter Anymore?
Christopher Fevre 100009227 ‘Does Red Clydeside Really Matter Any More?’ Word Count: 4,290 Red Clydeside, described aptly by Maggie Craig as ‘those heady decades at the beginning of the twentieth century when passionate people and passionate politics swept like a whirlwind through Glasgow’ is arguably the most significant yet controversial subject in Scottish labour and social history.1 Yet, it is because of this controversy that questions still linger regarding the significance of Red Clydeside in the overall narrative of British and more specifically, Scottish history. The title of this paper, ‘Does Red Clydeside Really Matter Any More?’ has been generously borrowed from Terry Brotherstone’s interesting article in Militant Workers: Labour and Class Conflict on the Clyde 1900- 1950.2 Following a decade in which the legacy of the Red Clydesiders had been systematically attacked by revisionist historians agitated by contemporary attempts to link the events on the Clyde with those occurring in Russia in 1917, Brotherstone emphasised the new and developing common sense approach to the Red Clydeside debate. It was argued that ‘A new consensus seems to be emerging... which acknowledges the significance of the events associated with Red Clydeside, but seeks to dissociate them from what is now perceived as the ‘myth’ or ‘legend’ that they involved a revolutionary challenge to the British state’. However, as a consequence of the ever changing nature of Red Clydeside historiography it is now time for a re-assessment of the significance of Red Clydeside which incorporates new research into the rise of left-wing politics in Scotland more generally. -
The Women of Red Clydeside the Women of Red Clydeside
THE WOMEN OF RED CLYDESIDE THE WOMEN OF RED CLYDESIDE: WOMEN MUNITIONS WORKERS IN THE WEST OF SCOTLAND DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR By MYRA BAILLIE, B.A., M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School ofGraduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment ofthe Requirements for the Degree Doctor ofPhilosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Myra Baillie, September 2002 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2002) McMaster University (History) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: The Women ofRed Clydeside: Women Munitions Workers in the West ofScotland during the First World War. AUTHOR: Myra Baillie, B.A., M.A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Professor R.A. Rempel NUMBER OF PAGES: x,320 11 ABSTRACT During World War One, the Clydeside region became one ofthe most important centres ofwar production in Britain. It also had one ofthe most volatile male workforces, earning it the reputation 'Red' Clydeside. Previous historical accounts have focussed on the skilled workers, debating the extent to which they were red-hot revolutionaries or narrow craft conservatives. To date, there has been no study ofthe region's large, capable, hard-working female workforce. This thesis traces the experience ofthe tens ofthousands ofwomen employed in the Clydeside munitions industry, paying particular attention to the working conditions in local factories. This thesis contributes to the long-standing historiographical arguments over the nature ofRed Clydeside by offering a new view ofthe dilution crisis which stands 11t the epicentre ofthe debate. It finds more cooperation between male and female munitions workers than has previously been recognized, and suggests that class confrontation, not craft conservatism, was at the root ofthe deportation ofthe shop steward leaders in March 1916. -
Heroes of Peace Profiles of the Scottish Peace Campaigners Who Opposed the First World War
Heroes of Peace Profiles of the Scottish peace campaigners who opposed the First World War a paper from the Introduction The coming year will see many attempts to interpret the First World War as a ‘just’ war with the emphasis on the heroic sacrifice of troops in the face of an evil enemy. No-one is questioning the bravery or the sacrifice although the introduction of conscription sixteen months after the start of the war meant that many of the men who fought did not do so from choice and once in the armed forces they had to obey orders or be shot. Even many of the volunteers in the early stages of the war signed up on the assumption that it would all be over in a few months with few casualties. We want to ensure that there is an alternative – and we believe more valid – interpretation of the events of a century ago made available to the public. This was a war in which around ten million young men were killed on the battlefield in four years, about 120,000 of them were Scottish. Proportionately Scotland suffered the highest number of war dead apart from Serbia and Turkey. It was described as the ‘war to end wars’ but instead it created the conditions for the rise of Hitler and the Second World War just twenty years later as a result of the very harsh terms imposed on Germany and the determination to humiliate the losing states. It also contributed to some of the current problems in the Middle East since, as part of the war settlement, Britain and France took ownership of large parts of the Ottoman Empire and divided up the territory with no reference to the identities and interests of the people. -
Helen Crawfurd Helen Jack, Born in the Gorbals District
Helen Crawfurd Helen Jack, born in the Gorbals district of Glasgow in 1877, was the third child of William Jack, a Master Baker, and Heather Kyle Jack, of 61 Shore Street, Inverkip. Her father was a member of the Conservative Party and a member of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland. Helen shared her father's religious views and became a Sunday school teacher. Her siblings were William, James, John, Jean and Agnes. In 1898 Helen married Reverend Alexander Montgomerie Crawfurd, and they had one son, Alexander in 1913. His parish was in a slum area of Glasgow and she was deeply shocked by the suffering endured by the working classes. She wrote to a friend about the "appalling misery and poverty of the workers in Glasgow, physically broken down bodies, bowlegged, rickets." Helen Crawfurd also became very interested in the work of Josephine Butler, particularly The Education and Employment of Women. She became convinced that the situation would only change when women had the vote and in 1900 she joined the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), claiming that "if the Mothers of the race had some say, then things would be changed". She held regular meetings in her Glasgow house and took part in protest meetings but she became increasingly frustrated by the lack success of the movement. By 1905 the media had lost interest in the struggle for women's rights. Newspapers rarely reported meetings and usually refused to publish articles and letters written by supporters of women's suffrage. The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) decided to use different methods to obtain the publicity they thought would be needed in order to obtain the vote. -
Issue 7 Biography Dundee Inveramsay
The Best of 25 Years of the Scottish Review Issue 7 Biography Dundee Inveramsay Edited by Islay McLeod ICS Books To Kenneth Roy, founder of the Scottish Review, mentor and friend, and to all the other contributors who are no longer with us. First published by ICS Books 216 Liberator House Prestwick Airport Prestwick KA9 2PT © Institute of Contemporary Scotland 2021 Cover design: James Hutcheson All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-8382831-6-2 Contents Biography 1 The greatest man in the world? William Morris Christopher Small (1996) 2 Kierkegaard at the ceilidh Iain Crichton Smith Derick Thomson (1998) 9 The long search for reality Tom Fleming Ian Mackenzie (1999) 14 Whisky and boiled eggs W S Graham Stewart Conn (1999) 19 Back to Blawearie James Leslie Mitchell (Lewis Grassic Gibbon) Jack Webster (2000) 23 Rescuing John Buchan R D Kernohan (2000) 30 Exercise of faith Eric Liddell Sally Magnusson (2002) 36 Rose like a lion Mick McGahey John McAllion (2002) 45 There was a man Tom Wright Sean Damer (2002) 50 Spellbinder Jessie Kesson Isobel Murray (2002) 54 A true polymath Robins Millar Barbara Millar (2008) 61 The man who lit Glasgow Henry Alexander Mavor Barbara Millar (2008) 70 Travelling woman Lizzie Higgins Barbara Millar (2008) 73 Rebel with a cause Mary -
Women on Red Clydeside
A RESEARCH COLLECTIONS FINDING AID WOMEN ON RED CLYDESIDE 1910-1920 Alison Clunie Helen Jeffrey Helen Sim MSC Cultural Heritage Studies April 2008 0 Holdings and Arrangement Glasgow Caledonian University’s Research Collections contains diverse and informative material on the subject of women on ‘Red Clydeside’. This material can be found in the following collections: • The Caledonian Collection (CC) • The Centre for Political Song (CPS) • The Gallacher Memorial Library (GML) • The Myra Baillie Archive (MB) • The Norman and Janey Buchan Collection (BC) This finding aid is arranged by subject heading and then alphabetically; it is not arranged by individual collections. The collection where each piece of material can be found is indicated by using the abbreviations shown above. Contents: Pages: Introduction 2 General Material 3-5 Helen Crawfurd 6-7 Mary Barbour 8-9 Other Material 10 Rent Strikes 11-14 Women’s Labour Movement 15-17 Women’s Peace Movement 18 Further information is available from the Research Collections Manager: John Powles ([email protected]) Research Collections (www.gcal.ac.uk/researchcollections/index.html) 1 Introduction The period known commonly as ‘Red Clydeside’, between 1910 and 1920, was an important era of political radicalism. During the First World War the Clyde, and its surrounding area, became an epicentre of ship building and munitions factories. In parallel with these progressions, the area also became the centre of Glasgow’s Labour movement. Male workers on the Clyde were increasingly involved in political activity, such as strikes, rallies and trade unionism. Until recently the role of women within this period of history has been somewhat overlooked. -
East End Women's
Glasgow East End Women’s Heritage Walk Glasgow East End Women’s Heritage Walk The women of Glasgow’s East End have always had to be industrious and resourceful simply to survive. This walk focuses on some of their achievements and struggles, and the radical nature of the area which gave birth to them. But first let us acknowledge the unrecorded ranks whose destinies were unfairly determined by their gender. Women are invisible in early sources about Glasgow, but the laws passed after the Reformation of 1560 paint a grim picture of female subordination to a misogynist theocracy. Route map 1 LONDON RD ST ANDREW’S ST LITTLE DOVEHILL !6 GREAT!7 DOVEHILL EAST CAMPBELL ST !5 GALLOWGATE HIGH ST !4 2 MILLROAD ST !3 CHARLOTTE ST LONDON RD GREENDYKE ST BAIN ST 3 ST GREEN ST TOBAGO ABERCROMBY ST 5 RIVER CLYDE 4 6 TEMPLETON ST !2 7 TEMPLETON ST TEMPLETON ST LONDON RD ARCADIA ST !1 GLASGOW LANDRESSY!0 ST BALLATER ST GREEN GREENHEAD ST MAC 8 9 KEITH ST JAMES ST TULLIS ST KING’S DRIVE Image Credits: Cover image: Woman weaving a carpet at ac.uk; Weavers at Camlachie Mill, 1892, reproduced ac.uk; The original Barrowland Ballroom, 1935, Templeton’s Carpet Factory, late 19th century, with the permission of Glasgow City Council, reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Glasgow Museums - GlasgowStory; Templeton’s Archives and Special Collections; Monument to Council, Glasgow Museums; Branks, reproduced after the disaster, reproduced with the permission Maggie Wall, Dunning, Perthshire, photograph © with the permission of Glasgow City Council, of Glasgow City Archives and Special Collections; Sandy Stevenson, www.visitdunkeld.com; Map Special Collections; silhouette of Mrs Agnes Two Bridgeton women sitting in Glasgow Green, of Glasgow in 1547, by Robert Gardner & Co, Maclehose, ‘Clarinda’, by John Miers, © Scottish © Newsquest (Herald & Times). -
Govan Community Council
GOVAN COMMUNITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 5 OCTOBER 2015 Present: Dick Carabine, Flora Pagan, Esme Clark, Robert Preston, Gina Preston, Wilma Bruce, Jean Melvin, Helen McNeil, John Foster Attending: Councillor James Adams, Councillor Stephen Dornan, Councillor John Kane, Chris Stephens MP, James Stringfellow, Jessie Sinclair, Reinbild Gormiak Apologies: Cllr Fariha Thomas, Helen Duffy, Humza Yousaf MSP Minute taker: John Foster 1. MINUTES OF 2014 AGM These were moved as correct by Robert Preston and Wilma Bruce and agreed 2. ANNUAL REPORT OF WORK A written report was distributed. The report was approved and will be reproduced in the October Govan Letter. The Secretary commented that the Community Council has had a busy year and that there had been a number of positive developments for the area. 3. TREASURER’S REPORT The Secretary reported that the books were still with the Auditor, who had been away, but were promised for later in the month. It was agreed to take the annual accounts at the November meeting. 4. ELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR THE COMING YEAR Chris Stephens MP took the Chair for this item and called for nominations Chair: Dick Carabine was nominated by John Foster and Flora Pagan and agreed Vice Chair: Flora Pagan was nominated by Esme Clark and Jean Melvin and agreed Secretary: Esme Clark was nominated by Flora Pagan and Wilma Bruce and agreed Treasurer: Gina Preston was nominated by Flora Pagan and Helen McNeill and agreed Dick Carabine took the chair at this point with a vote of thanks to Chris Stephens Continuing Business 1. -
Glaswegian Women Campaign for Rent Control, Scotland, 1915
Published on Global Nonviolent Action Database (http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu) Glaswegian Women Campaign for Rent Control, Scotland, 1915 March 1915 to: November 1915 Country: Scotland Location City/State/Province: Govan, Glasgow City, UK Location Description: Protest spread from Govan to the larger Clydeside area Goals: To regulate rent pricing and prohibit profiteering with the eventual goal of building Municipal Housing. Methods Methods in 1st segment: 008. Banners, posters, and displayed communications › Rent Strike: We Are Not Removing 087. Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments › Refusal to pay increased rent Methods in 2nd segment: 008. Banners, posters, and displayed communications › Rent Strike: We Are Not Removing 008. Banners, posters, and displayed communications › explanatory cards worn on chest 087. Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments › Refusal to pay increased rent Methods in 3rd segment: 008. Banners, posters, and displayed communications › explanatory cards worn on chest 087. Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments › Refusal to pay increased rent Methods in 4th segment: 008. Banners, posters, and displayed communications › explanatory cards worn on chest 087. Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments › Refusal to pay increased rent Methods in 5th segment: 008. Banners, posters, and displayed communications › explanatory cards worn on chest 087. Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments › Refusal to pay increased rent Methods in 6th segment: 008. Banners, posters, and displayed communications › explanatory cards worn on chest 087. Refusal to pay fees, dues, and assessments › Refusal to pay increased rent 097. Protest strike › Striking by industrial workers to protest rent increases Additional methods (Timing Unknown): 028. Symbolic sounds › used a football rattle as noisemaker during protest Notes on Methods: Strikers threw flour bombs (paper bags full of flour), wet clothes, and rotting fruit at evictors to make carrying out evictions so unpleasant that they would give up and go away. -
Helen Crawfurd (1877-1954), Scottish Suffragette and International Communist
Daring and Defiant: Helen Crawfurd (1877-1954), Scottish Suffragette and International Communist By Kiera Wilkins Submitted to Central European University Department of Gender Studies In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of European Master in Women’s and Gender History. Supervisor: Professor Francisca de Haan CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2019 ABSTRACT This thesis is based upon the political activism of Helen Crawfurd (1877-1954), Scottish suffragette and communist internationalist. Through invoking a biographical approach, I argue that Crawfurd’s political experience can shed light upon the complexities of women’s activism in early-20th-century Britain. This thesis analyses three key pillars of Crawfurd’s activism: the campaign for women’s suffrage, the era of Red Clydeside in Glasgow, and communist internationalism. The over-compartmentalisation of women’s activism in British historiography has led to the omission of vital connections between actors, movements and political ideas. This thesis thus seeks to surpass the confines of methodological nationalism by illustrating various instances of transnational connections and organising that were present locally and nationally. By focusing on Crawfurd’s lived experience of communist internationalism, I offer an analysis of her politics that challenges the dominance of political history writing; asserting the importance on the personal and the everyday, as opposed to so-called high politics. Through analysing local movements, I also illustrate instances of resistance and divergence that have been widely overlooked in the writing of national history. Ultimately, this thesis posits that Helen Crawfurd has been widely neglected by historiography because of her gender, locality and her commitment to communist internationalism. -
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Govan Buzz - March18.qxp_Layout 1 19/03/2018 16:58 Page 1 THETHE FREE Inside this GOVANGOVAN issue… Govan Housing Association Magazine Issue 9 | Spring 2018 www.govanha.org.uk BUZZ!BUZZ! Mary Barbour honoured GOVAN LOVES in Govan CHRISTMAS BENEFITS UPDATE …on International Women’s Day See page 4 for the full story KIDS CORNER Moving Govan Forward Govan Buzz - March18.qxp_Layout 1 19/03/2018 21:31 Page 2 GOVAN LOVES CHRISTMAS GovanLoved Christmas! We know it’s been a wee while since Christmas (although the recent snowfest with the Beast from the East has kept it feeling very wintery!) we wanted to share with you the brilliant pics of our annual Govan Loves Christmas event which was held on Wednesday 6 December 2017. As ever, the event was a great success thanks to all the stallholders, entertainers, families, kids and local folk who came along to make it a magical day. We had fantastic festive craft stalls, food stalls, carnival rides, ponies, Santa, rickshaws and the wonderfully talented Balloon man making all those spectacular balloons for kids! On stage we were entertained by the wonderful School Choirs which included pupils from Ibrox Primary, St Saviours Primary and St Constantine Primary, Govan Allsorts Choir, Taylor Rooney, Mirren McColl, and Carly Jay McLauchlan. Switching on our Christmas lights this year were our competition winners, Gracie Radcliffe from Ibrox Primary with Lisa Rossiter and her son Kian Connell, together with our special guest, the fantastic George Bowie, who followed up with a brilliant GBX slot. It was a great event and we warmly thank everyone who attended for making it so special. -
Will Thorne (1857-1946)
Will Thorne (1857-1946) “It is my earnest hope that the war has taught us all its uselessness and that we shall learn the lesson of talking peace and of using peaceful methods to settle our international differences in future.” Image copyright: National Portrait Gallery Will Thorne was one of the leading Trade Union figures of the 19th and 20th century and established the largest union of its time, the National Union of Gas Workers and General Labourers. He was a founding member of the Labour Party and achieved major reforms and improvements for workers in industrial Britain. He was elected as MP and Mayor for West Ham and served in the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Essex regiment during the First World War. Thorne’s upbringing was forged in the poverty and brutality of industrial England. Born in Birmingham in 1857, his father was a bricklayer but also a very heavy drinker. In 1864 in a drunken fight with a horse dealer, Thomas Thorne was killed by a blow to the head. Will was to spend his remaining childhood as the main provider for his family, working from the age of six to help feed them. As noted in his book My Life’s Battles, it was “days of hunger for all of us, especially on a Tuesday, when both bread and money ran out.”1 In 1881 Will moved to London and formally became active in politics, joining the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) the first organised socialist political party in Britain, led by H. M. Hyndman. Members were to include William Morris, George Lansbury, Eleanor Marx (daughter of Karl) and George Bernard Shaw.