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, Blantyre, Hamilton, Larkhall, and elsewhere. In 1896, the local unions merged completely to form a unitary trade union, the "Lanarkshire Miners' County Union".Arthur Ivor Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.6, pp.496-497
The members of the early federation were:
UnionJohn B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.6, pp.496-497 Founded Members (year) Bellshill Miners' Association 1890 Blantyre Miners' Association 1890 Hamilton Miners' Association Unknown 1,200 (1894) Holytown Miners' Association 1894 Larkhall Miners' Mutual Protection Association Motherwell Miners' Association 1894 Shotts Miners' Association 1894
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.E. Eldon Barry, Nationalization in British Politics: The Historical Background, p.115 In the 1920s, the two leading officials were Andrew McAnulty and William Allan, both members of the Communist Party of Great Britain.Matthew Worley, Class Against Class: The Communist Party in Britain Between the Wars, p.72 However, they were both suspended in 1928, and left to found the rival United Mineworkers of Scotland the following year.Matthew Worley, Class Against Class: The Communist Party in Britain Between the Wars, p.163
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 1918: Duncan Macgregor Graham 1922: William B. Small 1927: William Allan 1929: William B. Small 1937: James McKendrick
References