James C. Welsh (2 June 1880 – 4 November 1954) was a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

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 ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and Scottish Labour Party politician who served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) from 1922 to 1931, and from 1935 to 1945. Welsh worked in mines from the age of 12, an experience which informed his first novels ''The Underworld'' (1920) and ''The Morlocks'' (1924). He later became a full-time official for the mining union. He unsuccessfully contested the 1918 general election in the

Lanark Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...

constituency. At the 1922 general election, he was elected as MP for

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...

constituency, where he was re-elected in

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

and

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

, but was defeated at the 1931 general election by the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

candidate William Paterson Templeton. From the age of 12, James C. Welsh had a job working in the mines, and stayed there for 24 years. This experience informed his first novels ''The Underworld'' (1920) and ''The Morlocks'' (1924). He later became a full-time official for the mining union.''The Socialist Novel in Britain'', ed. by H. Gustav Klaus (Brighton: Harvester, 1982) 0-7108-0340-0 He unsuccessfully contested the 1918 general election in the

constituency. At the 1922 general election, he was elected as MP for

constituency, where he was re-elected in

and

, but was defeated at the 1931 general election by the

candidate William Paterson Templeton. He was returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at the 1935 general election as MP for

Bothwell Bothwell is a conservation village in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, east-south-east of Glasgow city centre. Description and history An ancie ...

, and held the seat until he stepped down at the 1945 general election.

Selected works

*''Songs of a Miner'' (1917) * ''The Underworld'' (1920) *''The Morlocks'' (1924) *''Norman Dale, M.P.'' (1928)

Sources

* *

References

External links

* * * 1880 births 1954 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Miners' Federation of Great Britain-sponsored MPs Scottish Labour MPs UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1935–1945 Scottish novelists Proletarian literature 20th-century Scottish novelists Scottish male novelists Scottish miners {{Scotland-Labour-UK-MP-stub