John Taylor Caldwell (14 July 1911 – 12 January 2007) was a

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

-born

anarchist communist Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, ''ancom'' or ''ancomm'') is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains re ...

and close associate and biographer of

Guy Aldred Guy Alfred Aldred (often Guy A. Aldred; 5 November 1886 – 16 October 1963) was a British anarcho-communist and a prominent member of the Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation (APCF). He founded the Bakunin Press publishing house and edited ...

. He wrote two volumes of autobiography which recount his early life growing up in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, his early career as a

mariner A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

and his political development, as well as his close involvement with Aldred and the

United Socialist Movement The United Socialist Movement (USM) was an anarcho-communist political organisation based in Glasgow. Founded in 1934 after splitting from the Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation, the USM initially aimed to unite revolutionary socialists int ...

A career agitator

Caldwell joined Aldred's

(USM) shortly after its inception in 1934, eventually becoming secretary. He was closely involved in the group's agitational work in support of

anarchism in Spain Anarchism in Spain has historically gained some support and influence, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, when it played an active political role and is considered the end of the golden age of c ...

before becoming – along with

Jenny Patrick Jane Hamilton Patrick, born Jenny Hamilton Patrick (1884–1971), was a Scottish anarchist of some standing, and played a crucial role in a number of radical organisations. Patrick was a printer and typesetter by trade. She became active in ...

and

Ethel MacDonald Camelia Ethel MacDonald (24 February 1909 – 1 December 1960) was a Glasgow-based Scottish anarchist, activist, and 1937, Spanish Civil War broadcaster on pro-Republican, anti-Fascist Barcelona radio. Early years Camelia Ethel McDonald wa ...

– a full-time "family" member of Aldred's Strickland Press when it was set up in 1939. Like Aldred, Caldwell was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

and resisted

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. For many years, Caldwell shared with Ethel MacDonald a third-floor flat in Gibson Street,

Hillhead Hillhead ( sco, Hullheid, gd, Ceann a' Chnuic) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Kelvingrove Park and to the south of the River Kelvin, Hillhead is at the heart of Glasgow's fashionable West End, with Byres Road forming the w ...

, Glasgow. He acted as

election agent An election agent in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some other similar political systems such as elections in India, is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is ...

for Aldred on four occasions.

Last of the quartet

Following Guy Aldred's death in 1963, Caldwell continued the work of both the USM and Strickland Press before finally closing the doors of their radical bookshop (somewhat coincidentally) in

May 1968 The following events occurred in May 1968: May 1, 1968 (Wednesday) *CARIFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade Association, was formally created as an agreement between Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. *RAF Strike Co ...

. As Aldred's

literary executor The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially completed wo ...

, he collated a

microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either photographic film, films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the origin ...

archive of Aldred's journals and pamphlets as well as his unfinished autobiography, ''No Traitor's Gait'' and the manuscript of Caldwell's own, unfinished, three-volume biography, ''The Red Evangel''. The latter was subsequently published, in an abridged form, as ''Come Dungeons Dark: The Life and Times of Guy Aldred, Glasgow Anarchist''. In 1966, to celebrate what would have been Aldred's 80th year, Caldwell produced a small collection of quotations, ''In Memoriam: Quotations from the writings of Guy A. Aldred''

References

Media

Part One of a discussion with J. T. Caldwell on the history of anarchism in Glasgow
(Audio available as Ogg, MP3, Streaming MP3 or WMA >22MB)
Part Two of a discussion with J. T. Caldwell on the history of anarchism in Glasgow
(Audio available as Ogg, MP3, Streaming MP3 or WMA >22MB)
Photograph (ref 560.77.305)
from the

Burrell Collection The Burrell Collection is a museum in Glasgow, Scotland, managed by Glasgow Museums. It houses the art collection of Sir William Burrell and Constance, Lady Burrell. The museum reopened on 29 March 2022 with free entry, having been closed for r ...

Photo Library shows members of the USM in 1938(?) with John Taylor Caldwell (extreme right) and Guy Aldred (6th from right).

Bibliography

*Caldwell, J.T. d. and introduction, ''uncredited''(1966), ''In Memoriam Guy A. Aldred, 1886 ― 1963: Quotations from the writings of Guy A. Aldred'', Strickland Press, Glasgow *Caldwell, John T. (1978), "Guy Aldred, Anti-Parliamentarian, 1886-1963: A Memoir", ''Essays in Scottish Labour History: a tribute to W. H. Marwick'', ed. MacDougall, I., * * *

External links

Anarchism in Glasgow, Part I
an
Anarchism in Glasgow, Part II
- A discussion featuring Charlie Baird Snr, Mollie Baird, John Taylor Caldwell, Babs Raeside, 14 August 1987. Retrieved 2007-09-01

was Caldwell's contribution to a Clydeside Press anthology celebrating Glasgow's working-class history. It is also only slightly edited from the chapter of the same name in ''Come Dungeons Dark''. Retrieved 2007-08-31.

from
Revolutionary History
Vol.2, No.4, Spring 1990.

appeared in Vol. 2, No. 1). Retrieved 2007-08-31

by Bob Jones and Gina Bridgeland fro

Retrieved 2007-08-31.
An appreciation of Caldwell
by

Ian Hamilton QC Ian Robertson Hamilton KC (13 September 1925 – 3 October 2022) was a Scottish lawyer and nationalist, best known for his part in the return of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey to Arbroath Abbey in 1950.

. Retrieved 2009-02-26. {{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, John Taylor 1911 births 2007 deaths Scottish anarchists Scottish biographers Scottish communists Scottish conscientious objectors Politicians from Glasgow 20th-century British biographers