John Maclean, Clydeside socialist, democrat, educator and trade unionist served six terms of imprisonment between 1916 and 1923 for the offences of sedition and incitement to strike. These convictions all related to his efforts to oppose the First World War and to organise the labour movement on the Clyde. His […]
Mary Brooksbank (Soutar) (1897-1978) was born 15 December 1897 in Aberdeen. Her father, Alexander Soutar (1867-1953) had help to found the Aberdeen Dockers’ Union. By 1907 the Soutars were in Dundee but living in poverty. Mary’s youngest brother died of diphtheria during this time and she was often taken out […]
Robert Watt (1761×88-1794) – revolutionary or police informer – was educated at Perth Academy before taking up employment in Edinburgh. After various jobs – clerk, writer and wine merchant – he began working as a spy for the Lord Advocate, Robert Dundas. The late 18th century was a radical period across […]
James Connolly was born at 107 Cowgate in Edinburgh (an area known commonly as Little Ireland) on June 5 1868 and went on to become the General Secretary of the Irish Transport & General Workers Union (IT&GWU), one of the seven signatories to the 1916 Proclamation of Irish Independence, and […]
In 1936 the North Inch was the scene of a confrontation between members of the British Union of Fascists (BUF – Oswald Mosley’s Black-shirts) and thousands of people opposed to them. This event took place against the backdrop of the ascendancy of Nazism in Germany. The rally took place on […]
John Maclean, Clydeside socialist, democrat, educator and trade unionist served six terms of imprisonment between 1916 and 1923 for the offences of sedition and incitement to strike. These convictions all related to his efforts to oppose the First World War and to organise the labour movement on the Clyde. His […]