John Maclean
John Maclean joined the newly formed British Socialist Party (BSP) in 1911 and became a vigorous anti-war and anti-conscription campaigner. He was arrested for the first time in 1915 under the Defence of the Realm Act, and lost his job as a teacher. He then devoted himself full-time to the cause of revolutionary Marxism in Scotland, and was appointed Soviet Consul to Scotland in 1918. He was imprisoned again in 1921, after which the majority of Maclean's political activity was concentrated on building up his new party, the Scottish Workers' Republican Party.
Article: John Maclean (1879-1923) by Michael Byers, 2002
Article: John Maclean's Pollokshaws by Ian R. Mitchell, November 2003
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Letter entitled 'The attitude of the BSP' by John Maclean. Printed in Forward, 26 September 1914. |
| Photograph showing James Maxton (second from left) in discussion with John Maclean (third from left). |
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Original 'warrant to summon' issued to Maxton, Shinwell, Maclean and other speakers following anti-conscription demonstration in Glasgow. |
| Article entitled 'Defence of the Realm Act: John Maclean fined £5'. Published in Forward, 20 November 1915. |
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Letter entitled 'John Maclean and the BSP', by John Maclean. Printed in Forward, 18 May 1915. |
| Front page of lecture notes issued for John Maclean's class on economics at the Scottish Labour College in 1916. |
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Article entitled 'The sedition trials'. Published in Forward, 8 April 1916. |
| Copy of telegram sent to John Maclean from the executive committee of the British Socialist Party on his release from prison in July 1917. On his release Maclean had served 14 months and 22 days of his three-year sentence. |
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John Maclean's letter of appointment as Bolshevik Consul for Scotland, dated 5 January 1918. This honour for Maclean meant that he became the first native representative of Soviet Russia in Britain. |
| Photograph of John Maclean conducting his own defence at his trial for sedition in Edinburgh in 1918. |
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Cover of booklet entitled 'Sack Dalrymple, Sack Stevenson', written and published by John Maclean in the aftermath of Bloody Friday in 1919. |
| Cover of booklet entitled 'Sack Dalrymple, Sack Stevenson', written and published by John Maclean in the aftermath of Bloody Friday in 1919. |
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Election address of John Maclean, written from prison, contesting the ward of Kinning Park in the Glasgow municipal elections of October 1921 as a candidate for the Glasgow Unemployed Group. |
| Photograph of John Maclean's casket being removed from his home in Pollokshaws on the day of his funeral, showing a film cameraman positioned on top of a van filming events. |
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Ten-page manifesto pamphlet of the Scottish Workers Republican Party dated 1925, with picture of SWRP founder John Maclean on the front and application for membership on back page. |
| Colour poster commemorating the centenary of the birth of John Maclean (1879-1923) featuring illustrations of Maclean's political life. |
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