Sam Mainwaring

Samuel Mainwaring (15 December 1841 – 29 September 1907) was a Welsh machinist and socialist political activist who was a founding member and key leader of the Socialist League, one of the first socialist political parties in Britain. In his later years, he turned from Marxist socialism to the libertarian socialist doctrine of anarcho-communism. He is best remembered as the father of the term "anarcho-syndicalism".

Biography Early years Known to his contemporaries as Sam, Mainwaring was born 15 December 1841 in Penrhiwtyn, Neath, Wales. He was a native speaker of Welsh and retained an affinity for the tongue throughout his life. Mainwaring was raised by his family as a Unitarian. He developed into a quiet yet persuasive public speaker and a tireless worker for activities which he believed important.

Mainwaring worked as an engineer, moving to the United States for a short period of time before returning to the United Kingdom to work in London, where he was a member of the Amalgamated Engineering Union.

Political career Late in the 1870s, Mainwaring joined the East London Labour Emancipation League and was an early member of the Social Democratic Federation.

Death In his later years, Mainwaring lived in London. On Sunday, 29 September 1907, while addressing a meeting on Parliament Hill Fields, Mainwaring was stricken by faintness and subsequently died.

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