The Lanarkshire Miners' County Union, later the Lanarkshire Mineworkers' Union, represented
coal miners in the
Lanarkshire district of
Scotland.
The union was founded in 1893 as the Lanarkshire Miners' Federation, bringing together local miners' unions based in
Bellshill
Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...
,
Blantyre,
Hamilton,
Larkhall, and elsewhere. In 1896, the local unions merged completely to form a unitary trade union, the "Lanarkshire Miners' County Union".
The members of the early federation were:
The union was initially led by
Robert Smillie and William Small, both close associates of
Keir Hardie, and both were founding members of the
Independent Labour Party. In the 1920s, the two leading officials were Andrew McAnulty and William Allan, both members 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 ...
. However, they were both suspended in 1928, and left to found the rival
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 ...
the following year.
The union affiliated to the
National Union of Scottish Mineworkers, which in turn became an affiliate of the
Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB). In 1944, the MFGB became the
National Union of Mineworkers, and the County Union became its Lanarkshire Area, with less independence than before. In about 1962, it was dissolved into the Scottish Area.
[Chris Cook, ''The Routledge Guide to British Political Archives: Sources Since 1945'', p.356]
Presidents
:1893:
Robert Smillie
:1900s:
Joseph Sullivan
:1920: Andrew McAnulty
:1929: Alexander Hunter
:1940:
William Pearson
Secretaries
:1893:
William Small
:c.1896:
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...
:1918:
Duncan Macgregor Graham
:1922:
William B. Small
:1927: William Allan
:1929:
William B. Small
:1937: James McKendrick
References
{{National Union of Mineworkers (UK)
Mining trade unions
National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)
1893 establishments in Scotland
Mining in Scotland
Defunct trade unions of Scotland
Trade unions established in 1893