Sam Mainwaring
Encyclopedia
Samuel "Sam" Mainwaring was a Welsh
machinist and socialist political activist who was a founding member and key leader of the Socialist League
, one of the first Marxist political parties in Britain. In his later years he turned from Marxist socialism to the libertarian socialist doctrine of Anarchist Communism
. He is best remembered as the father of the term "anarcho-syndicalism
".
, Wales
. He was a native speaker of Welsh and retained an affinity for the tongue throughout his life.
Mainwaring was raised by his family as a Unitarian
. He developed into a quiet but persuasive public speaker and a tireless worker for activities which he believed important.
Mainwaring was a member of the Amalgamated Engineering Union.
. This group proved to be a disappointment, however, failing to garner support of an appreciable section of the working class and was believed by many members to overly dominated by the intellectual pretensions and nationalist
political views of its patriarch and patron, Henry Hyndman
.
In 1885 there came a split, in which Mainwaring joined with Eleanor Marx
, Belfort Bax, and his friend William Morris
in forming the Socialist League
.
Mainwaring was a foreman of a shop which employed Tom Mann
, and exerted a political influence upon him.
Over time, Mainwaring's views gradually evolved from revolutionary socialism
to those of Anarchist Communism
.
In 1891, Mainwaring moved to Swansea
and there started the Swansea Socialist Society. There he became associated with the fledgling anarchist
newspaper Liberty, edited by J. Tochatti, formerly of the Hammersmith
branch of the Socialist League.
In September 1903 and March 1904 Mainwaring published two issues of a short-lived newspaper called The General Strike, a publication which made detailed criticisms of the “officialism” of union bureaucracy and which publicised strikes in Europe making use of syndicalist
tactics.
.
On Sunday, September 29, 1907, while addressing a meeting on Parliamentary Hill Fields, Mainwaring was stricken by faintness and subsequently died. He was 55 years old at the time of his death.
Mainwaring is credited with coining the phrase "anarcho-syndicalism
" and it is for this he is best remembered.
Sam Mainwaring was cited as a major intellectual inspiration by the radical British labour leader Tom Mann
. In his 1923 memoirs, Mann credited Mainwaring with having been "one of the very first to understand the significance of the revolutionary movement, and the first, as far as my knowledge goes, to appreciate industrial action
as distinct from parliamentary action.
Sam Mainwaring was the namesake of a nephew
whom he adopted, Sam Mainwaring, Jr., himself an important radical activist in the international labour movement
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
machinist and socialist political activist who was a founding member and key leader of the Socialist League
Socialist League (UK, 1885)
The Socialist League was an early revolutionary socialist organisation in the United Kingdom. The organisation began as a dissident offshoot of the Social Democratic Federation of Henry Hyndman at the end of 1884. Never an ideologically harmonious group, by the 1890s the group had turned from...
, one of the first Marxist political parties in Britain. In his later years he turned from Marxist socialism to the libertarian socialist doctrine of Anarchist Communism
Anarchist communism
Anarchist communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, markets, money, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with...
. He is best remembered as the father of the term "anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
".
Early years
Samuel Mainwaring, known to his contemporaries as "Sam," was born 15 December 1841 in Penrhiwtyn, NeathNeath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. He was a native speaker of Welsh and retained an affinity for the tongue throughout his life.
Mainwaring was raised by his family as a Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
. He developed into a quiet but persuasive public speaker and a tireless worker for activities which he believed important.
Mainwaring was a member of the Amalgamated Engineering Union.
Political career
Late in the 1870s, Mainwaring joined the East London Labour Emancipation League and was an early member of the Social Democratic FederationSocial Democratic Federation
The Social Democratic Federation was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on June 7, 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury and Eleanor Marx. However, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx's long-term...
. This group proved to be a disappointment, however, failing to garner support of an appreciable section of the working class and was believed by many members to overly dominated by the intellectual pretensions and nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
political views of its patriarch and patron, Henry Hyndman
Henry Hyndman
Henry Mayers Hyndman was an English writer and politician, and the founder of the Social Democratic Federation and the National Socialist Party.-Early years:...
.
In 1885 there came a split, in which Mainwaring joined with Eleanor Marx
Eleanor Marx
Jenny Julia Eleanor "Tussy" Marx , also known as Eleanor Marx Aveling, was the English-born youngest daughter of Karl Marx. She was herself a socialist activist, who sometimes worked as a literary translator...
, Belfort Bax, and his friend William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
in forming the Socialist League
Socialist League (UK, 1885)
The Socialist League was an early revolutionary socialist organisation in the United Kingdom. The organisation began as a dissident offshoot of the Social Democratic Federation of Henry Hyndman at the end of 1884. Never an ideologically harmonious group, by the 1890s the group had turned from...
.
Mainwaring was a foreman of a shop which employed Tom Mann
Tom Mann
Tom Mann was a noted British trade unionist. Largely self-educated, Mann became a successful organiser and a popular public speaker in the labour movement.-Early years:...
, and exerted a political influence upon him.
Over time, Mainwaring's views gradually evolved from revolutionary socialism
Revolutionary socialism
The term revolutionary socialism refers to Socialist tendencies that advocate the need for fundamental social change through revolution by mass movements of the working class, as a strategy to achieve a socialist society...
to those of Anarchist Communism
Anarchist communism
Anarchist communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, markets, money, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with...
.
In 1891, Mainwaring moved to Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
and there started the Swansea Socialist Society. There he became associated with the fledgling anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
newspaper Liberty, edited by J. Tochatti, formerly of the Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
branch of the Socialist League.
In September 1903 and March 1904 Mainwaring published two issues of a short-lived newspaper called The General Strike, a publication which made detailed criticisms of the “officialism” of union bureaucracy and which publicised strikes in Europe making use of syndicalist
Syndicalism
Syndicalism is a type of economic system proposed as a replacement for capitalism and an alternative to state socialism, which uses federations of collectivised trade unions or industrial unions...
tactics.
Death and legacy
In his later years, Mainwaring lived in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
On Sunday, September 29, 1907, while addressing a meeting on Parliamentary Hill Fields, Mainwaring was stricken by faintness and subsequently died. He was 55 years old at the time of his death.
Mainwaring is credited with coining the phrase "anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
" and it is for this he is best remembered.
Sam Mainwaring was cited as a major intellectual inspiration by the radical British labour leader Tom Mann
Tom Mann
Tom Mann was a noted British trade unionist. Largely self-educated, Mann became a successful organiser and a popular public speaker in the labour movement.-Early years:...
. In his 1923 memoirs, Mann credited Mainwaring with having been "one of the very first to understand the significance of the revolutionary movement, and the first, as far as my knowledge goes, to appreciate industrial action
Industrial action
Industrial action or job action refers collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quite often it is used and interpreted as a euphemism for strike, but the scope is much wider...
as distinct from parliamentary action.
Sam Mainwaring was the namesake of a nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
whom he adopted, Sam Mainwaring, Jr., himself an important radical activist in the international labour movement
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
.
Further reading
- Kenneth John, "Anti-Parliamentary Passage: South Wales and the Internationalism of Sam Mainwaring (1841 - 1907)", University of Greenwich, PhD thesis, 2001.
- Hermia Oliver, The International Anarchist Movement in Late Victorian London. London: Croom Helm, 1983.