William Small (trade unionist)

William Small (1845 – 23 January 1903) was a Scottish trade unionist.

In his younger years, Small ran a drapers' shop in Glasgow, then moved his business to Cambuslang, and finally to Blantyre. There, he became involved in the land reform movement.

Alexander Macdonald had been the leading miners' trade union organiser in Lanarkshire. He died in 1881, and Andrew McCowie, who had met Small through the land reform movement, believed that Small would be McDonald's ideal successor. Small's draper business was not going well, and he was persuaded, devoting the remainder of his life to the cause. In 1885, he worked with older activists such as Robert Steel to call meetings of miners in Lanarkshire with a view to founding a branch of the Lanarkshire Miners' Union. Among those who attended was Robert Smillie, who regarded Small as an early mentor. Smillie noted that Small would rise early in the morning to walk to meetings as much as twenty miles away, and in summer would often sleep outdoors to avoid having to complete the return journey the same day.

The union was led by Keir Hardie, with Small succeeding as secretary in 1885. He led the union in supporting Hardie's campaign at the Mid Lanarkshire by-election, 1888, and Small chaired many of Hardie's campaign meetings. Small also attended UK-wide miners' conferences in 1886 and 1889.

Small's politics gradually moved towards socialism, and his cottage became a centre for discussions between leading socialist activists, including William Morris, Henry Hyndman and Edward Carpenter. Small joined Hardie's Scottish Labour Party, eventually becoming a vice-president, and was considered as a potential candidate in Dundee at the 1892 general election, though he was not ultimately selected. He attended the 1892 and 1893 Trades Union Congresses; at the first, he and Smillie jointly proposed nationalising the mines and also mineral rights.

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