Red Clydeside: A history of the labour movement in Glasgow 1910-1932

Events

The Shettleston eviction case, 12 June 1915

The attempted eviction of the McHugh family of Shettleston in the East End of Glasgow became a cause celebre for the ILP led campaign against the imposition of rent increases in working class districts of Clydeside.

Led by Glasgow ILP leader, John Wheatley, the campaign to halt the eviction of the McHugh family focused on the moral dimensions of the case. The case was presented as one where the wife of a wounded soldier, along with her five children, two of whom were seriously ill, were being evicted because of the family's inability to pay the increased rents imposed by the landlords.

The McHugh case attracted widespread attention from throughout Britain and helped to bring the related issue's of war-time rent increases, landlord profiteering and evictions of working class tenants to the forefront of national political debate.

Source: Gallacher Memorial Library, Glasgow Caledonian University Special Collections and Archives