Our friends at the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society (DGNHAS) have kindly given us permission to reproduce Ian's last article, published posthumously in the Society's Transactions, by way of tribute to him. Our thanks are due to DGNHAS's general secretary, Margaret Kennedy, for raising the matter with the Society's Council, and for her warm words about Ian as 'a very valued member of our Society'. It's good to see labour history so well-appreciated within local and regional historical societies.
Ian also wrote other papers published in the Transactions:
'Co-operation in 1870s Dumfries: The experience of the Dumfries and Maxwelltown Co-Operative Provision Society' (v. 90);
'Queen of the South Co-Operative Society, 1881-1892' (v. 92).
Longer-standing SLHS members may recognise these as early outputs from Ian's research on the history of co-operation in Dumfries which led ultimately to his first full-length book, sadly long sold out, 'Something to build on': the Co-operative movement in Dumfries 1847–1914. The book was reviewed in DGNHAS's Transactions v. 95, and his second (also sold out), Mobbings, struggles and strikes: episodes in the history of the organised working class of Dumfries 1771–1914 was reviewed in v. 96.
These are all available via the Society's website if anyone wishes to see them: https://dgnhas.org.uk/.
Ian also gave a lecture to DGNHAS on 2 March 2023 which is available to listen to on YouTube via the Society's website.
The Scottish Labour History Society still has stock of Ian's final book, 'A hard nut to crack'?: the emergence of 'labour' in Dumfries 1884-1914 available for sale; please click through to the shop if you would like to buy a copy.
I will write further about Ian's contributions to Scottish Labour History in the next few days; in the meantime, enjoy the article.