Letter from William Crawford Anderson to William O'Brien, 28 October 1916 Letters 1916-1923 William Crawford Anderson

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This is a letter from William Crawford Anderson (1877-1919), politician, to William O'Brien (1881-1968), labour leader and trade union official. This letter refers to O'Brien's attempts to secure the release from prison of two labour activists who had been active during the Rising, Helena Malony, who was part of the garrison in City Hall, and Winifred Carney, who acted as secretary to James Connolly in the GPO. Anderson writes that he will put O'Brien's question to the Home Secretary, Herbert Samuel. Enclosed is a copy of the question posed to the House of Commons by Anderson, extracts from the debate that followed and Samuel's reply. William Crawford Anderson was a member of the Independent Labour Party, MP for Sheffield and one of the most influential speakers on pacifist opposition and social issues during the Great War. William O'Brien was a member of the executive of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union and the executive of the Dublin Trades Council and the Irish Trade Union Congress. O'Brien did not take part in the Easter Rising but was part of the planning and was arrested and imprisoned for a short period after the Rising.

 Military Archives of Ireland Bureau of Military History Contemporary Documents, Helena Malony Collection, BMH CD/119/1/3(a) https://letters1916.ie/item/36 English William Crawford Anderson 1916-10-28 7 Mecklenburgh Square, London, England William O'Brien Trades Hall, Capel Street, Dublin, Ireland Male Easter Rising Ireland 1916

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 7, Mecklenburgh Square, London, W.C. 28th. October 1916. Mr. W. O'Brien, Dublin United Trade Council and Labour League, Trades Hall, Capel Street, Dublin. Dear Mr. O'Brien, I have received your letter and am putting a question to the Home Secretary regarding the continued custody of Miss Molony and Miss Carney. I will let you know the reply in due course. With all good wishes, Yours faithfully, W.C. Anderson 17. Mr.Anderson, --- To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether, of the number of women arrested in connection with the recent insurrections in Dublin, only two are now in custody, both Miss Molony and Miss Carney being trade union officials; and whether he can now see his way to grant the release of these two ladies. Mr. Herbert Samuel. The answer to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. With regard to the second part, I would refer the honourable Member to the written answer which I gave to the honourable Member for North Westmeath on the 31st October in reply to a similar Question; but I may add that Miss Carney may be released shortly if she gives the usual undertaking and finds sureties for her good contact. Parliamentary Debate 31 Oct. 1916 Mr. GINNELL asked the Home Secre- tary whether the fact was brought under the notice of the Advisory Committee in the case of Miss Kearney, one of the un- tried Irish prisoners at Aylesbury, that her work during the week of the insurrec- tion was precisely a continuation of the civil and legitimate work in which she had been previously engaged, adn that under contract and trades union rules she had no option but to continue it; whether she is the only woman trades unionist among the Irish prisoners; if she is kept in prison on any charge but that of being a trades unionist will he have her tried by a judge and jury; and, if there be no other charge, will he have her released? Mr. SAMUEL: Winifred Carney was in terned upon the recommendation of a competent military authority on the ground that she is of hostile associations and reasonably suspected of having favoured promoted or assisted an armed insurrec tion against His Majesty. She had a full opportunity of stating her case before the Advisory Committee, who recommended her continued detention in the interests of the public safety. I am informed that both she and Miss Helena Moloney are trade union officials, but I need hardly say that the fact that she was a trade unionist had nothing to do with her internment. I regret that she cannot be released at present. William Crawford Anderson Letter from William Crawford Anderson to William O'Brien, 28 October 1916 William O'Brien Letter from William Crawford Anderson to William O'Brien, 28 October 1916Letter from Irish Prisoners, Frongoch to William O'Brien, Esq., MP, 14 October 1916Letter from William O'Brien to Augustine Birrell, 26 February 1916Letter from Andrew Philip Magill to William O'Brien, 28 February 1916.Letter from William O'Brien to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 9 November 1915Letter from Frongoch to William O'Brien, 14 October 1916Letter from Andrew Philip Magill to William O'Brien, 28 February 1916Letter from William O'Brien to Augustine Birrell, 26 February 1916 Trades Hall, Capel Street, Dublin, Ireland Letter from William Crawford Anderson to William O'Brien, 28 October 1916Letter from William O'Brien to Augustine Birrell, 26 February 1916 7 Mecklenburgh Square, London, England Letter from William Crawford Anderson to William O'Brien, 28 October 1916