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163:; and later became the Leader of British mineworkers. He was first a hand-pumper at the Sumerlee Colliery, which involved working twelve hours a day with no human contact. He married Ann Hamilton on 31 December 1878, and began to educate himself in the evenings; where he worked his way up through the ranks to become the colliery
139:
crofter. Until his adult years, he spelt his name as "Smellie"; including on his marriage certificate in 1878. During his early years, he was orphaned and brought up by his grandmother who taught him how to read and write. By the age of nine, he was working as an errand boy and by the age of eleven,
175:
Smillie became secretary of the
Larkhall Miners' Association in 1885 after presiding over a mass meeting, which ended in its formation and when the county federation was formed, he became president in 1893. He became the President of the Scottish Miners' Federation in 1894. Employers in a number of
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during their early careers and remained friends until Hardie's death in 1915. He campaigned for Hardie in many of his election contests, including the first in 1888. Smillie stood for parliament on seven occasions between 1894 and 1910. Later, he could have had the nomination for winnable seats in
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was set up. In 1915, Smillie became president of the Triple
Alliance. He fought to keep the miners outside the provisions of the Munitions Act. In 1918, he resigned from the position of president of the Scottish Miners Federation. He vigorously condemned conscription and was the president of the
203:
His early commitment to socialism was moderate, and Lib-Labs were predominant in the leadership, which clashed with the miners' political views. Nevertheless, Smillie's qualities of leadership brought him to the forefront of the miners' struggles, and with the growth of militancy amongst certain
228:(MFGB) should affiliate to the Labour Party. By 1910, the group was the largest in organised labour. By 1912, he was elected vice-president of the MFGB and remained in the position until 1921. All the coalfields of Great Britain went on strike in 1912, and the
216:, which made him such an outstanding activist. At the first STUC meeting in 1897, he came second in the ballot for president, but at the first meeting of the committee he was appointed chairman. Eight out of eleven of the delegates were supporters of the ILP.
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184:, which Smillie won. Strikes left the Scottish miners in a greatly-weakened position, who suffered further wage cuts in 1895 and 1896. In 1897, less than 20% of the workers were organised.
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180:, a ballot was taken, and the strike that followed lasted from June until October 1894. Controversy arose between Smillie and Chisholm Robertson in 1900 led to a debate at
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Meanwhile, Smillie had been trying to gain more than political as well as industrial action. His first attempt was in 1894, when he stood at the by-election at
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In 1899, Smillie compelled the
Scottish mineowners to set up a conciliation board after much trouble, and he played an active part in setting up the
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and at Mid Lanark twice in 1910. All of the attempts were failures, but he eventually was elected in 1923 as the Member of
Parliament for
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and his grandson travelled with her in the
Spanish civil war and died in a communist gaol there whilst only 19 years old.
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politician. He was a leader of the coal miners, and played a central role in moving support from the miners away from the
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From 1922 to 1928, Smillie again presided the
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and Angus MacDonald on the
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He died at 82, followed by his wife two years later. They were survived by seven sons and two daughters.
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to the Labour Party. He had a firm commitment to socialism as an ideal, and militancy as a tactic.
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districts demanded wage reductions, resulting in strikes. Following a special conference of the
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he was working at a spinning mill. He was able to obtain some books by authors such as
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No
Language! No Nation! The Life and Times of the Honourable Ruaraidh Erskine of Marr
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in 1895 as the ILP, 1901 by-election in
Lanarkshire, 1906 as a Labour Candidate for
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115:(17 March 1857 – 16 February 1940) was a Scottish trade unionist and
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Vice presidents of the
National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)
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National Council Against Conscription when it was founded, in 1915.
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Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress
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Presidents of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)
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Glasgow; but chose to remain with his work for the miners.
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due to his ill health. He sponsored young female member
16:
Scottish trade unionist and Labour Party politician
1401:Miners' Federation of Great Britain-sponsored MPs
1391:Independent Labour Party parliamentary candidates
1386:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
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419:Wrigley, Christopher (2004). "Smillie, Robert".
155:By the age of fifteen, he had left Ireland for
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720:
468:contributions in Parliament by Robert Smillie
425:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
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195:in 1893, Smillie was a close associate of
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204:sections, opinion changed to his favour.
1426:Scottish Labour Party (1888) politicians
687:National Union of Scottish Mine Workers
422:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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404:Bellamy, J. M. and J. Saville, eds.
254:short-lived Labour government of 1924
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659:Miners' Federation of Great Britain
585:Miners' Federation of Great Britain
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226:Miners' Federation of Great Britain
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178:Miners Federation of Great Britain
35:Robert Smillie in the early 1900s.
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457:National Portrait Gallery, London
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477:Parliament of the United Kingdom
415:(2003)2: 1190–91, historiography
413:Readers Guide to British History
364:No. 18, Autumn 1984, pp. 2 - 6,
358:Land Raids and the Scottish Left
283:, Willie Graham, Neil MacLean,
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559:Scottish Trades Union Congress
406:Dictionary of labour biography
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224:By 1908, he resolved that the
214:Scottish Trades Union Congress
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1156:Colliery Officials and Staffs
740:National Union of Mineworkers
620:American Federation of Labour
271:In 1919, Smillie served with
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439:UK public library membership
252:, but refused office in the
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533:Scottish Miners' Federation
453:Portraits of Robert Smillie
267:Scottish National Committee
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384:, Rymour Books, Perth,
380:Cairns, Gerard (2021),
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618:representative to the
583:Vice-President of the
431:10.1093/ref:odnb/36126
293:Paris Peace Conference
182:Glasgow Trades Council
616:Trades Union Congress
356:Burnett, Ray (1984),
189:Scottish Labour Party
1275:Mid and West Lothian
1270:Mid and East Lothian
1134:Affiliates and areas
609:George Henry Roberts
517:Trade union offices
346:. Faber & Faber.
246:Paisley Cockersmouth
46:Member of Parliament
1205:North Staffordshire
1016:General Secretaries
629:James Andrew Seddon
191:in 1888 and of the
150:William Shakespeare
411:Loads, David, ed.
344:Jennie Lee: A Life
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694:Succeeded by
685:President of the
666:Succeeded by
657:President of the
634:Succeeded by
592:Succeeded by
566:Succeeded by
557:President of the
540:Succeeded by
531:President of the
507:Succeeded by
437:(Subscription or
242:Glasgow Camlachie
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1416:UK MPs 1924–1929
1411:UK MPs 1923–1924
1406:UK MPs 1922–1923
1291:South Derbyshire
1260:Fife and Kinross
1196:Midland Counties
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574:Preceded by
552:William Muirhead
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285:James Maxton
281:Tom Johnston
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171:Early career
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146:Robert Burns
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117:Labour Party
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83:Ebby Edwards
79:Succeeded by
58:
1376:1940 deaths
1371:1857 births
1296:South Wales
1265:Lanarkshire
1241:North Wales
1107:En. Edwards
1042:Eb. Edwards
905:Eb. Edwards
786:Eb. Edwards
762:En. Edwards
738:(MFGB) and
679:Hugh Murnin
641:Ivor Gwynne
486:John Cairns
466:1803–2005:
197:Keir Hardie
97:Nationality
73:John Cairns
69:Preceded by
1365:Categories
1220:Shropshire
1166:Derbyshire
1161:Cumberland
1125:Richardson
1099:Treasurers
1066:Heathfield
748:Presidents
691:1922–1928
663:1912–1922
589:1909–1912
537:1894–1918
441:required.)
362:Cencrastus
295:after the
273:Joe Duncan
258:Jennie Lee
238:Mid-Lanark
127:Early life
1347:1984–1985
1301:Yorkshire
1146:Cleveland
965:Schofield
577:Sam Woods
370:0264-0856
63:1923–1929
59:In office
1286:Somerset
1280:Stirling
1255:Ayrshire
1251:Scotland
1210:Old Hill
1072:Scargill
977:Thompson
959:Bullough
947:T. Jones
941:E. Jones
917:J. Jones
899:Richards
834:Scargill
810:E. Jones
798:J. Jones
780:Richards
161:Larkhall
137:Scottish
131:Born in
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1151:Cokemen
1141:Bristol
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1090:Kitchen
1078:Vacant?
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995:Stanley
971:McGahey
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869:Smillie
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804:Lawther
768:Smillie
756:Pickard
494:Morpeth
463:Hansard
455:at the
250:Morpeth
157:Glasgow
133:Belfast
100:British
51:Morpeth
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1048:Horner
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1024:Ashton
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969:1973
963:1969
957:1963
951:1961
945:1954
939:1950
933:1939
927:1934
921:1933
915:1932
909:1931
903:1929
897:1924
893:Walsh
891:1922
887:Smith
885:1917
881:House
879:1914
873:1912
867:1909
863:Woods
861:1889
844:2012
838:2002
832:1982
826:1971
820:1960
814:1960
808:1954
802:1939
796:1934
790:1932
784:1931
778:1929
774:Smith
772:1922
766:1912
760:1904
754:1889
742:(NUM)
563:1903
311:Notes
303:Death
1342:1974
1337:1972
1332:1969
1327:1926
1322:1912
1317:1893
1181:Kent
1084:Kemp
1060:Daly
1036:Cook
989:Cave
822:Ford
639:and
607:and
503:1929
499:1923
386:ISBN
366:ISSN
220:MFGB
208:STUC
148:and
49:for
911:Lee
792:Lee
427:doi
1367::
319:^
299:.
287:,
279:,
275:,
167:.
144:,
1282:)
1253:(
1232:)
1198:(
728:e
721:t
714:v
501:–
433:.
429::
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