The Strickland Press was an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

publishing house in George Street, Glasgow which was established in 1939 by prominent member of the

Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation The Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation (APCF) was a communist group in the United Kingdom. It was founded by the group around Guy Aldred's ''Spur'' newspaper – mostly former Communist League members – in 1921. They included John McGover ...

(APCF) Guy Aldred.

Bequest and foundation

In 1938 Guy Aldred's friend,

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

liberalist Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for co ...

Sir Walter Strickland, died leaving Aldred a fortune "for socialist and

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

". Aldred began work straight away buying premises and machinery and proceeded to reprint all his old pamphlets, before he had actually secured the money. Strickland's family then contested the will citing the fact that socialist and atheist propaganda was illegal under Czech law (Strickland had become a naturalised Czech subject after the creation of the state of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

). After a protracted legal battle, Aldred was left out of pocket only to be saved, financially, by the Marquis of Tavistock. Through Tavistock's support, Aldred was able to begin work on his monthly ''The Word'' - periodical of 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 ...

which was one of the key publications produced by the Strickland Press.

Publications

The Press produced periodicals and

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

and

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

pamphlets, many written by Aldred.

Dissolution

The Marquis of Tavistock - who became the Duke of Bedford - committed suicide after the Second World War, making no provision for Aldred in his will. Nevertheless, Aldred continued to publish ''The Word'' until his death in 1963 supported by

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 ...

and

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 ...

. MacDonald acted as manager and bookkeeper of the company until her death in 1960, setting type and printing alongside Patrick who continued working at Strickland Press until its dissolution. The George Street premises had to be vacated in 1962, when they were demolished to make way for expansion of the Royal College of Science and Technology, which later became the University of Strathclyde who now hold Aldred's archive.{{Cite web, url=http://atom.lib.strath.ac.uk/aldred-collection, title=Aldred collection - University of Strathclyde Archives, website=atom.lib.strath.ac.uk, language=en, access-date=2018-05-23 The Strickland Press was continued by

John Taylor Caldwell John Taylor Caldwell (14 July 1911 – 12 January 2007) was a Glasgow-born anarchist communist and close associate and biographer of Guy Aldred. He wrote two volumes of autobiography which recount his early life growing up in Belfast, his early ...

until its closure in 1968.

References

Anarchist publishing companies Book publishing companies of Scotland Anarchism in Scotland