Syd Bidwell served as the Labour MP for Southall 1966 to 1992 and was well known for his stand against racism. His son, John, found his unfinished autobiography among Syd’s papers after his death in 1997 and it is now published for the first time.
Published jointly with the Durham Miners’ Association:
This pamphlet originally appeared as an article in the 135th Durham Miners’ Gala Souvenir Brochure to mark 150 years since the DMA was founded in November 1869.
Publisher: YouCaxton
Compilation of letters home from servicemen from a working class district of Chiswick (since demolished) plus reports and interviews with returning service-people. The letters come from all over the world, including from Russia in 1919 where British soldiers were sent to fight against the Bolsheviks.
Publisher: Welsh Academic Press
Wayne David relates the inspiring life of one of his predecessors as Labour MP for Caerphilly – where Morgan Jones won the 1921 by-election as a conscientious objector; he was education minister in the first two Labour governments, and made a significant input internationally towards the independence of India and the Caribbean.
Review: see Labour Heritage Bulletin Autumn 2019
Publisher: Spokesmanbooks
Morgan Phillips began to write this in the 1950s and covers his work in the Labour Party from the 1930s, and then his role in the Socialist International from 1945, where the party contributed to rebuilding democratic political parties in Europe after the end of World War Two. He died in 1963 and his son Morgan D. Phillips prepared his manuscripts for publication – but it is only now available in print.
Stan Newens begins with his working class upbringing in Bethnal Green, his work as a coal miner, then as a teacher in the East London until his election as Labour MP in 1964. He was MP for Epping 1964-70, then Harlow 1974-83, then an MEP 1984-99. He was a founder member and long-standing Chair of Labour Heritage.
Review: see Labour Heritage Bulletin Spring 2014
The following are available to download:
by Steve Thompson
Labour & Socialism by Steve Thompson
Published 1942
Labour on the March
The following are available to purchase: please use our contact form to order
or write to Labour Heritage, 11 Aylmer Road, London W12 9LG
NB these are publications which either have been published by Labour Heritage, or were published in association with Labour Heritage.
Labour in the East – essays in Labour history in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex
William Miller – Black activist in the Plymouth Labour Party from the early 1920s to 1970
Chris Morris a Land Worker’s struggle and Epping Autobiography 1913-1990
The Roots of Labour in a West London Suburb – Ealing in the 1930s
In Face of Poverty – Labour Heritage Women’s Research committee bulletin no.1, Spring 1986
Doing History – Labour Heritage Women’s Research Committee Bulletin no.3, Spring 1990
Labour Party pamphlets of the Second World War: a checklist
This collection of essays by Ian Grimwood, John Gyford, Don Mathew, Matthew Worley and Stan Newens – all historians and labour movement activists themselves – is published by Labour Heritage with financial support from several trade unions.
In his introduction, John Gyford describes this as ‘….a series of historical portraits of local labour movement development rather than an integrated account at a regional level.’ There are some common themes: the rise of the Labour Party, the role of the trades unions, the experience of unemployment and the Poor Laws in the 1920s and 1930s which affected all parts of the region.
Price: £7 incl. p&p
This biographical sketch by Jonathan Wood, published in 2006 by Labour Heritage, challenges the common misconception that Black and Asian people played no active part in life in Britain before the Second World War. William Miller was a leading member of Plymouth council for over 40 years; he was a key figure on the Reconstruction Committee charged with rebuilding the town after the devastating bombing of the Second World War, and became Deputy Lord Mayor in 1962. Bill Miller’s grandfather was a slave who was granted his freedom at a church mission in Sierra Leone; his father found work on a British ship and came to England where he married and settled in Stonehouse, nearby to Plymouth. His son Claude Miller, was a Labour and Co-operative councillor on Devon County Council from 1981 and became Lord Mayor of Plymouth in 2004 at the age of 89.
Published by History & Social Action Publications in association with Labour Heritage.
Price: £3.50 incl. p&p
After being dogged in childhood by poverty, illness, absence from school and family difficulties, in adult life, Chris Morris suffered dismissal from his employment, eviction from his home and the consequent hardships, as the result of championing the causes of the farm worker. He stood firm in the face of adversity, however, and became a leading figure in the National Union of Agricultural Workers and in the Labour movement in the eastern counties.
The manner in which he fulfilled his personal obligations and family responsibilities, while never losing sight of his ideals or weakening in his commitment, is the basis of this moving story. It should be of real interest not only to the citizenry of Epping and West Essex, where he lived, but also to everyone concerned with the lives of ordinary people and the cause of social improvement.
Introduction and postscript by Stan Newens. Labour Heritage 2003.
Price: £4.50 incl. p & p
Barbara Humphries
Labour Heritage 2002. £2 incl. p&p
Labour Heritage Women’s Research Committee Bulletin No.1. Spring 1986
Extracts from talks and interviews given by Labour Heritage members and Anne Reed’s personal record of the 1984/85 miners’ strike
Christine Collette. Editorial: Labour Women’s Heritage
Bronwen Tall Brittian. “And I saw that day a hungry baby”
Effie Dee. “Poverty Junction” (London pre 1914)
Irene Wagner. The Menace of Fascism (Germany, 1930s)
Anne Reed. “We will never regret it”. (Neath Valley, 1986)
Price: £1 incl. p&p
Labour Heritage Women’s Research Committee Bulletin No.3. Spring 1990
Doing History: topic, local history, research, oral history, work in progress, presentation
Dorothy Rock. The Best University. (Poverty in Depression in Manchester)
Christine Collette. Women, Peace and Internationalism.
Price: £1 inc p&p
Labour Heritage 1991.
Price: £2 incl. p&p
