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General transport strike 1911

Astoness

TRUE BRUMMIE MODERATOR
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3 pics here of the transport strike 1911..the first one is taken in vyse st which i have posted under the vyse st thread...

lyn
 

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3 pics here of the transport strike 1911..the first one is taken in vyse st which i have posted under the vyse st thread...

lyn

Tremendous pictures, they even show the time of day, I'm sure there is quite a story to be told.

Do we know which way, in Vyse Street, that the picture was taken?
 
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thanks pedro what impressed me as well was the clarity of the photos considering they were taken 106 years ago and yes i am quite sure there is a story to be told....i used to work in vyse st and it still amazes me at just how many people marched up that street

lyn
 
thanks pedro what impressed me as well was the clarity of the photos considering they were taken 106 years ago and yes i am quite sure there is a story to be told....i used to work in vyse st and it still amazes me at just how many people marched up that street

lyn

Do we know which way the picture in Vyse Street was taken? It may have a bearing on something I have found alredy.
 
Perdocut.
The tall building on the right is 115-118 Vyse st on this map, shown in red. That would make the photographer being at about the head of the arrow in the road

map c 1950 south end of Vyse st showing 15-.jpg
 
This image from Warwickshire Railways shows passengers milling around a locked New Street Station in Station Street during the 1911 Railway Strike. Strike lasted two days. Viv.
image.jpg
 
pedro...all the buildings you see on the right hand side of the photo from warstone lane to hockley st were sadly demolished during the late 70s i would think...

lyn
 
Perdocut.
The tall building on the right is 115-118 Vyse st on this map, shown in red. That would make the photographer being at about the head of the arrow in the road

View attachment 111620

Thanks, that may suggest that the procession has left (as opposed to arriving) from the Hockley Goods Yard, and moved along Pitsford Street to turn right into Vyse Street. The picture has the date of the 19th of August which is interesting. Many national papers carry reports on the 19th of the escort of 6 meat waggons by the Royal Munster Regiment, mounted police and foot police with drawn truncheons. The acting Lord Mayor following in a motor car.

There are many varying reports of violence, and one elderly man named Rogers being trampled to death, but this picture seems to show the "curious" crowds.

Do we know the location of the other two pictures?
 
Pickets addressing meeting in Birmingham during 1911 railway strike location not known. Looks very orderly.
1911meeting.jpg
Police and strikers outside Midland Railway goods station, Allport Street, Birmingham.
1911allportststrike.jpg
Police and strikers outside Snow Hill Station, Birmingham, during 1911 Railway Strike, the back of the hotel in the background.
1911strikesnowhill.jpg
(images from shoothill)
 
3 pics here of the transport strike 1911..the first one is taken in vyse st which i have posted under the vyse st thread...

lyn

As an aside has anyone noticed, on the second picture, the man on the bridge that looks like he is ready to jump!
 
Although the national railway strike only lasted two days, trouble was brewing for some time previously...

"Some of the first strikes were among Midland Railway workers who unofficially came out on in early August demanding increased pay and shorter hours. However, the action that had started in Liverpool soon spread to Manchester and other parts of the north and midlands, as well as other railway companies such as the London and North Western and Great Central railways."

The Birmingham papers for 1911 are not online but Birmingham's involvement is mentioned in many others; reports would probably be gathered from an agency. Here are a few things, maybe exaggerated, that were reported.

Monday (probably the 14th of August) 200 workers struck at the Hockley Depot of GWR....large and excited crowds gathered in the adjacent streets and a considerable police force was on duty.

(On 16 th) reported now upwards of 1000 men on strike.

Reported on the 19th....yesterday six wagons containing meat left Lawley Street Goods Station between 7 to 8 o'clock for the wholesale market...sharp hand to hand fighting took place...reinforcements arriving the strikers were beaten off and the wagons got through safely.

Wild disorder accompanied the beginning of the general strike in Birmingham. Rioting was general from dawn until noon, when the arrival of the Royal Munster Regiment and the announcement that cavalry was expected produced a salutary effect.

Meat carters...the police convoy was stoned and broken through, and meat was thrown into the roadway, horses unharnessed, drivers assaulted, and the vans eventually sent back.

Further rioting last night when an attempt was made to remove meat from the Midland Depot. The vans were accompanied by a military escort, mounted police, and foot police with truncheons drawn... cavalcade followed by a disorderly crowd, and a violent scene ensued when a drunken man attempted to scramble into the Lord Mayor's car. The crowd rushed forward throwing sticks and bricks...charged by mounted police and scattered in all directions.

One policeman struck on the head and rendered unconscious...women and children were trampled on and one elderly man named Rogers was trampled to death..
 
Pedrocut
I think the two photos you were querying the location of were taken outside the entrance of the Lawley St depot of Midland Railway, as shown by red spot on map. A view today from about the same place is below

map c c1917 showing entrance to lawley st depot, midland railway.jpg ScreenHunter_4528 Jan. 31 11.11.jpg ScreenHunter_4528 Jan. 31 11.11.jpg
 
Pedrocut
I think the two photos you were querying the location of were taken outside the entrance of the Lawley St depot of Midland Railway, as shown by red spot on map. A view today from about the same place is below

View attachment 111630 View attachment 111631 View attachment 111631

Dead on! So the pictures seem to be of the first day, or afternoon, of the "general" strike, and showing the escort entering and the leaving the Depot. The crowd seem very well-dressed and no sign of rioting!
 
The National Strike of 1911 was caused by the dissatisfaction with the Conciliation Board, set up in 1907 to deal with men's representatives (unions were not recognized at that time). A meeting with the Government of the day, produced nothing more than a promise to set up a Royal Commission to investigate the workings of the conciliation agreement. The Government announced that it would use all civil and military force to put down any industrial action. An immediate strike was called by the railway unions.

Over 200,000 immediately walked out, including railway staff. With sympathetic action by some miners, the Government realised it was more serious than they realised, with huge effects on industry. The outcome was improvements to the conciliation schemes, and union recognition by management would come into effect in 1917. In 1912 there was also the first national miners' strike, with a view to obtaining a minimum wage agreement.

As a result of all this, the National Union of Railwaymen (N.U.R), was formed out of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, the United Pointsmen's, the Signalmen's Society, and the General Railway Workers' Union, although many of the drivers, firemen and railway clerks remained in independent unions, i.e. Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen. (A.S.L.E.F). Founded in 1880. (Now the union of all types of train drivers).

In 1926 there was a further railway general strike.

Information courtesy of The GWR and the General Strike, by C.R. Potts
 
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And looking at Mike's map in post #12 shows the extent to which railway work must have dominated the lives of those living nearby. Many families must have had members working for the railway or associated with the railway. So strike action could have hit hard. Viv.
 
Viv. Industrial action always hit hard on many families that had, in the times of the Industrial Revolution, moved to the area of work. Coal, railways, mills and docks would dominate the area, and the work force. Areas like Swindon, Doncaster & Crewe, relied almost entirely on the railway system.

Birmingham, being the "City of a thousand trades", was a little more fortunate than most. Still tough, but more flexible.

Eddie
 
There was indeed much dissatisfaction with the Conciliation Boards by the rail employees and their representatives; the Rail Companies were accused of manipulation of the boards for their own interests.

Some consider it was a great achievement, as almost all the companies refused to recognise the unions, when in 1907 Lloyd George persuaded the companies to recognise elected representatives of the workers who would sit with the company representatives on conciliation boards. Others believed that Lloyd George knew that the system had failed in Australia, and Tom Lowth of the General Railway Workers’ Union (GRWU) said: “It does not look to me like a very satisfactory settlement."

By August 1910 Lord Claud Hamilton (1843-1925), Chairman of the Railway Companies Association and the Great Eastern boasted: “The union of course is not recognised in any way. Not a loophole as far as I can see has been left open for them.” While chairman of the Great Eastern he opposed Trade Unions, he never assented to the recognition, and believed that Unions were responsible for strife amongst the workers. "Railway management," he once said, "is as exciting as war." I wonder what his thoughts were when, in clashes between railway workers and troops at Llanelli, two men were shot dead?

On the 19th it was reported that Birmingham police constables were in action in Liverpool and found themselves hard pressed and had to fight desperately to escape from the crowd who were attacking them....

"A section of Birmingham constables came along at a run, striking right and left with their truncheons, but when they got to the junction of Lime Street and St John's Lane they were brought to a stand by a number of men who had taken off their belts and swinging them with terrific force, challenging the officers to advance. The constables, under their superior officer, Superintendent Boulton, manfully stood their ground for a time, watching for opportunities for striking at the men, but the latter gathering courage from the support they were receiving from other rioters who flocked from all directions and threw stones and other missiles, practically forced the police to retire."
 
Re post #1, the image with the bread van caught up in the General Strike. Was it Saltley ? I saw this on an auction website and other photos in the job lot were of Saltley and Tyseley. Viv.
 
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