THE T.U.C. MEDAL, PRESENTATIONAL HORN BUGLE & CANE TO MARY QUAILE, 1925 WOMEN'S DELEGATION TO RUSSIA

Mary Quaile was the Chair of the T.U.C’s delegation of four British women to the Soviet Union between April and July 1925. The delegation's brief was to investigate and report back on the working conditions for women and children. During their tour, Russian women trade unionists presented each of the four British women with a banner which read: "Workers of the World Unite! United Struggle of Russian & English Workers Will Ensure World Victory of the Proletariat, Tvet 1925." One of these four flags is on display at the People's History Museum, Manchester.

A Russian silver & horn presentational clarion bugle was presented to Mary herself with a personal inscription, along with a silver-tipped cane with decorative wire wrap spelling: 'Kislovodsk, 1925'. There is one surviving photograph which shows them in this spa city of the North Caucasus, Russia.

A Russian niello silver and horn presentational clarion bugle was presented to Mary herself with a personal inscription from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, Tiflis 1925, along with a silver-tipped cane embossed with 'Kislovodsk 1925'. There is a surviving photograph which shows the delegation in the spa city of Kislovodsk in the North Caucasus, Russia.

Mary describes the joyous scenes they encountered on this tour: "Women were there in hundreds, many of them with bunches of wildflowers to give to their British sisters, all of them wanting to shake our hands, some with tears in their eyes, not of sorrow, but of joy at our meeting. There also came to greet us children, the pioneers of the new social order, which will emancipate the workers of the world. It was Sunday, but these workers in their hundreds had been out early planting their trees to give value and beauty to the country they now owned. This was voluntary work, but it was done in the willing spirit that afterwards we met with so often in Russia."

Mary and the delegation reported back their findings on factory workshops, social insurance, social issues, national minorities, the textile industry and women in industry in general. They found that policies were well ahead of British attitudes and legislation in the 1920s, particularly in terms of communal facilities and access to social clubs with childcare facilities, and the mutual rights and duties of parents and children. Mary concluded: "The British workers have in the past often stood by the Russian workers. Let us appeal to the leaders of our workers’ movement to come together, and with their great organising powers, set themselves the task of understanding and building up the united Trade Union organisation, national and international, that is so necessary to the working class of the world."

What was to take place the following year in Britain, however, was the most significant industrial dispute in its history: The 1926 General Strike. As the strike approached, Mary addressed the crowds at the May Day Rally in Bristol. On the eve of the strike, Mary spoke in support of action at the Platt Field Park Rally in Manchester. The strike was called off after nine days and a year later, Mr Baldwin's government passed the 1927 Trades Disputes Act, which banned sympathy strikes and mass picketing.

Mary Quaile was born in Dublin, Ireland on 8 Aug 1886, the daughter of Bridget Lightholder and James Quaile; the Secretary of the Ancient Guild of Incorporated Brick and Stone Layers Trade Union. The Quaile family emigrated to England when Mary was four years old and moved to 1 Pimlott Street, Longsight, Manchester. Mary left school at the age of 12 and worked as a domestic servant, and became inspired by trade union organiser, Margaret Bondfield. Mary found work at the Clarion Cafe which had opened at 50a Market Street on 31 Oct 1908. The cafe was becoming an integral part of the Clarion movement, galvanised by Robert Blantchford's weekly newspaper, The Clarion.

In March 1911, Mary then became Organising Secretary of the Manchester Women's Trade Unions Council, and raised nearly £1000 for the workforce at Bradford Flax Mill, which comprised mainly of women and girls who had been striking for four months. During WWI, Mary was inundated with cases and causes, as women began to replace men in industry. Mary, herself, was a pacifist and member of the No Conscription Fellowship.

In Nov 1919, Mary was appointed National Women's Organiser for the Dock, Wharf and Riverside Workers' Union. She continued in this post when her union merged with the largest in the country; the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1922. At the Trades Union Congress of the same year, Mary stood for one of the two seats reserved for women on the General Council. She came fourth in the vote, behind the first ever woman elected, Margaret Bondfield (National Union of General Workers) and Julia Varley (Workers' Union).

In 1923, Mary stood again and came third, but this time Ramsay MacDonald appoinnted Bondfield to the Cabinet as Minister for Employment, so Mary took her seat. As a result, Mary attended the National Conference of Labour Women in May 1924 and both the International Women Trade Unionists and Third International Trade Union Congress in Vienna. In Nov 1924, Mary was chosen by the General Council to be their representative on the Women's Advisory Committee of the International Federation of Trade Unions. Mary was elected to the General Council, beating Julia Varley. She was then appointed Chair of a delegation of four British trade unionists to tour the Soviet Union between Apr and July 1925.

The delegation's brief was to investigate and report back on the working conditions for women and children. Accompanying Mary was Miss Annie Loughlin, the organiser of the Tailor and Garment Workers' Union, Mrs A. Bridge, the organiser of the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers, and Miss L.A. Aspinall, the organiser of the Weavers, Winders and Reelers' Association. They were joined by stenographer, Miss May Purcell and interpreter, Mrs K. Coates. During their tour, Russian women trade unionists presented each of the four British women with a banner which read: 'Workers of the World Unite. United Struggle of Russian and English Men & Women Workers Will Ensure World Victory of the Proletariat. The banner shows two women against a backdrop of factories and Lenin's Tomb. One of the four flags flies in People's History Museum, Manchester. A silver and horn presentational clarion bugle was presented to Mary with a personal inscription, along with a silver-tipped cane with decorative wire wrap spelling: 'Kislovodsk, 1925'. There is one surviving photograph which shows them in this spa city of the North Caucasus, Russia. Mary describes the joyous scenes they encountered:

"Women were there in hundreds, many of them with bunches of wild flowers to give to their British sisters, all of them wanting to shake our hands, some with tears in their eyes, not of sorrow, but of joy at our meeting. There also came to greet us children, the pioneers of the new social order, which will emancipate the workers of the world. It was Sunday, but these workers in their hundreds had been out early planting their trees to give value and beauty to the country they now owned. This was voluntary work, but it was done in the willing spirit that afterwards we met with so often in Russia."

Mary and the delegation reported back their findings on factory workshops, social insurance, social issues, national minorities, the textile industry and women in industry in general. They found that policies were well ahead of British attitudes and legislation in the 1920s, particularly in terms of communal facilities and access to social clubs with childcare facilities, and the mutual rights and duties of parents and children. Mary concluded:

"The British workers have in the past often stood by the Russian workers. Let us appeal to the leaders of our workers’ movement to come together, and with their great organising powers, set themselves the task of understanding and building up the united Trade Union organisation, national and international, that is so necessary to the working class of the world."

What was to take place the following year in Britain, however, was the most significant industrial dispute in its history: The 1926 General Strike. As the strike approached, Mary addressed the crowds at the May Day Rally in Bristol. On the eve of the strike, Mary spoke in support of action at the Platt Field Park Rally in Manchester. The strike was called off after nine days and a year later, Mr Baldwin's government passed the 1927 Trades Disputes Act, which banned sympathy strikes and mass picketing.

In 1934, Mary became Justice of the Peace in Manchester and elected Vice President of Manchester Trades Council; in taking up this role, she became the Council's first female officer. In 1951, Mary was the first female trade unionist to be awarded the T.U.C. Silver Badge, which was presented to her at a Belle Vue Gardens gala by Sir Luke Fawcett on behalf of the T.U.C. Mary Quaile died at her home in Withington on 16 Dec 1958. The Manchester Guardian published an obituary which read:

"Her determination to get trade unionism for women accepted was often met with jeers, boos, rotten apples and threats of violence. She spoke at hundreds of factory gate meetings in both the East End of London and Manchester. She never betrayed any sign of fear when faced with hostility. Her warmth and lovable personality won her many friends in the labour and trade union movements."

Manchester Trades Council added:

"She never relinquished her post as Hon. Treasurer, nor did the Council wish her to do so, even though her doctor had compelled her not to leave the house through ill health. Whenever she had a visitor from the Trades Council, her face would beam with delight. Any news she was able to glean of the Movement were to her a tonic, for the Trade Union Movement was her life."

Watch a short presentation of Mary Quaile's items here