David Proudfoot (8 December 1892 – 16 January 1958) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

. Born at

Methil Methil (Scottish Gaelic: Meadhchill) is an eastern coastal town in Scotland. It was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to the Bishop of St Andrews. Two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as ov ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Proudfoot left school at the age of fourteen to undertake an engineering apprenticeship; however, he left after three years to become a coal miner, working at the Klondyke Colliery. He served with the

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Mar ...

as a machine-gunner during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, eventually becoming a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

, but was invalided out with

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

in 1918. Radicalised by the war, he joined the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw t ...

(BSP), and returned to work in the mines. However, his malaria returned regularly, and so he worked above ground, being elected as

checkweighman {{Short description, Occupation within mining, especially coal A checkweighman (occasionally checkmeasurer or checkweigher) is a person who is responsible for weighing coal or another mined substance, and thereby determining the payment due to each ...

at the Wellesley Colliery in 1919.William Knox, ''Scottish Labour Leaders 1918-1939'', pp.230-234 The BSP became part of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

(CPGB) in 1920, and Proudfoot was a founder member. He devoted large amounts of his time to the Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan Miners' Association, but in 1922 was elected as vice-chairman of the left-wing breakaway, the Mineworkers' Reform Union of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan. The CPGB decided to oppose the split and, although Proudfoot remained prominent in the Reform Union, he agitated for it to reunite with the Miners' Association. Proudfoot was a leading figure in Fife during the

1926 UK general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governm ...

. When the strike was defeated, he was charged with

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

; he was found

not proven Not proven (, ) is a verdict available to a Courts of Scotland, court of law in Scotland. Under Scots law, a Criminal procedure, criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts, one of conviction ("guilty") and two of acquittal ("not proven" and ...

of the charge, but lost his job. The two Fife miners unions voted to reunify, and Proudfoot won election as a full-time miners' agent, alongside his comrade John McArthur - this despite union leader

William Adamson William Adamson (2 April 1863 – 23 February 1936) was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour politician. He was Leader of the Labour Party from 1917 to 1921 and served as Secretary of State for Scotland in 1924 and during 1929–1931 in the f ...

calling three successive ballots in the hope of obtaining a different result. Proudfoot was also elected to the executive of the

National Union of Scottish Mineworkers The National Union of Scottish Mineworkers (NUSW) is a trade union in Scotland, founded in 1894 as the Scottish Miners Federation. It joined the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, and in 1914 changed its name to National Union of Scottish Minew ...

(NUSMW). Frustrated with inactivity at the NUSMW, and encouraged by the

Third Period The Third Period is an ideological concept adopted by the Communist International (Comintern) at its Sixth World Congress, held in Moscow in the summer of 1928. It set policy until reversed when the Nazis took over Germany in 1933. The Comint ...

policy of the CPGB to form separate unions, Proudfoot was a founder of the new, communist-led

United Mineworkers of Scotland United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(UMS) and worked as full-time organiser for its Fife affiliate. In February 1931, he was elected as general secretary of the UMS, but he became dissatisfied on discovering that previous secretary William Allan had left the union's administration in a poor state. When, later in the year, he was not paid, he resigned, to be replaced by

Abe Moffat Abraham Moffat (24 September 1896 – 28 March 1975) was a Scottish trade unionist and communist activist. He was elected repeatedly to high office in the trade unions and represented the union on government coal boards. He held major union offic ...

. He also left the CPGB. After his resignation, Proudfoot worked as a labour in various fields, before becoming an insurance agent. He retained his communist beliefs, but did not rejoin the CPGB, and eventually decided to instead become a member of the Labour Party. He served as a Labour member of Methil and Buckhaven Town Council from 1945 until 1951, and also served a term on

Fife County Council Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i.e ...

. He retired from work and his political posts early in the 1950s as his health declined, and spent the last five years of his life unable to leave his bed, due to

pneumoconiosis Pneumoconiosis is the general term for a class of interstitial lung disease where inhalation of dust ( for example, ash dust, lead particles, pollen grains etc) has caused interstitial fibrosis. The three most common types are asbestosis, silicos ...

. McArthur raised funds to help support Proudfoot's family during this period.

References

Further reading