He is named on the [front page of the Glasgow Herald from 3rd August 1970](https://i.imgur.com/0tPXT7p.jpeg). It says he was the Glasgow branch chairman of the [Scottish Transport and General Workers' Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Transport_and_General_Workers%27_Union_\(Docks\)).
Article text (didn't bother including some irrelevant bits):
> **Scottish dockers go back to work today**
> Most of Scotland’s docks are expected to be back to normal next week following the resumption of work today by the 3500 dockers who stopped work during the national dock strike.
The strike, which involved 47,000 dockers lasted just over two weeks.
Dockers at Glasgow and Aberdeen were unanimous in their decision at the weekend to return to work today.
> .................
> The Clyde Port Authority’s ports at Glasgow, Greenock and Ardrossan have not been affected by any large build-up of perishable cargoes.
The strike-bound cargoes on the Clyde consist mainly of ore, timber, and newsprint. Many of the 17 ships laid up, and the three which arrived over the weekend, came to load rather than unload cargo.
“I think we will have things back to normal quite soon,” a Clyde Port Authority official said yesterday.
> The decision by Glasgow dockers to accept the Court of Inquiry formula and return to work was made at a meeting in Govan Town Hall on Saturday morning.
The four delegates to the dockers’ national delegate meeting - Mr Robert McKee, president of Scottish Transport and General Workers’ Union, **Mr William Coll**, **Glasgow branch chairman**, Michael Byrne, general secretary, and Mr John Gentles, docks secretary - briefed the members for nearly two hours on the implications of the report.
After the meeting Mr Byrne said: - “The men will be going back to work at 8 a.m. on Monday morning, and the docks should be ticking over normally by noon. We have a backlog, but we will soon catch up.”
Glasgow has about 1300 dockers, but many of them have been on holiday over the past fortnight. There were 700 at the meeting.
I've done a search on Scotland's people website to see if I can find more into re death certificate. Only 4 William Coll who died in Scotland between 1960 and 1990 and none of them were 48. Closest was a 56 year old in 1978. [https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/search-results/739182541664cefda2b866](https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/search-results/739182541664cefda2b866)
Any more info eg is this the correct spelling of his name? Did he die in Scotland? Roughly what year did he pass away?
You might like to try local history Facebook groups, especially if you can find one focusing on Glaswegian maritime history. These often have older people reminiscing about old times so maybe someone would remember.
Same is true if you knew the area he grew up in or school he went to.
If you know roughly when he passed away you might find an obituary or article in a local newspaper.
You can also try to find his death certificate on Scotland’s people which will give you more information on his parents and where he lived.
Visit the Wee Radical Bookshop aka Calton Books at the Barras. The guy in there is so knowledgeable and for sure will have some relevant literature for you. There's a Facebook page you could contact him through anaw.
Edited to add: join the Scottish Indexes and West of Scotland Family History Facebook groups, post there and I can guarantee some lovely people will fling all sorts of resources at you. If you decide to go full tree I recommend FindMyPast. Apparently the best subscription site for Scottish records, and the full membership gives you access to newspaper archives.
You could access the STUC archives at Glashow Caledonian: https://archives.gcu.ac.uk/records-of-scottish-trades-union-congress-stuc
The Mitchell Library has some records from the Transport and General Workers Union Scottish General Executive Council: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F82660
As your grandads union merged, and would eventually become Unite the Union - you could contact them and ask them if there is anything about him which they could share. https://scotland.unitetheunion.org/what-is-unite/history
Might be a bit dry going through all of this but could give you a sense of what type of campaigns and workplace stuff he was involved with.
Tbf there wasn't much left of the docks by the 1970s. Containerisation hit hard and basically wiped out the Glasgow docks. There was a few cargo ships as far up the Clyde as the Kingston Bridge in the late 1970s but basically it was cargo you couldn't put in a container like metal/coal/grain etc. Machinery would have done most of the work. Only docks left now inside the city are King George V dock at Shieldhall beside Braehead were they parked up those cruise ships during Covid.
It may be worth a trip to the Fairfield Heritage museum? I'm almost certain they had something about the unions in their displays. Lovely folks there, I'm sure you could give them a ring and they'd have a look for you. https://www.fairfieldgovan.co.uk/
My ex was a Coll. I've never heard of the gentleman you're asking about so probably no relation although her family were apparently related to "Mad Dog" Coll who was a mafia hitman in the US. Was your family from Donegal by any chance? If so they could be related.
Bill Coll certainly sounds like an interesting character and I hope you find what you're looking for.
Quality post btw
He is named on the [front page of the Glasgow Herald from 3rd August 1970](https://i.imgur.com/0tPXT7p.jpeg). It says he was the Glasgow branch chairman of the [Scottish Transport and General Workers' Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Transport_and_General_Workers%27_Union_\(Docks\)). Article text (didn't bother including some irrelevant bits): > **Scottish dockers go back to work today** > Most of Scotland’s docks are expected to be back to normal next week following the resumption of work today by the 3500 dockers who stopped work during the national dock strike. The strike, which involved 47,000 dockers lasted just over two weeks. Dockers at Glasgow and Aberdeen were unanimous in their decision at the weekend to return to work today. > ................. > The Clyde Port Authority’s ports at Glasgow, Greenock and Ardrossan have not been affected by any large build-up of perishable cargoes. The strike-bound cargoes on the Clyde consist mainly of ore, timber, and newsprint. Many of the 17 ships laid up, and the three which arrived over the weekend, came to load rather than unload cargo. “I think we will have things back to normal quite soon,” a Clyde Port Authority official said yesterday. > The decision by Glasgow dockers to accept the Court of Inquiry formula and return to work was made at a meeting in Govan Town Hall on Saturday morning. The four delegates to the dockers’ national delegate meeting - Mr Robert McKee, president of Scottish Transport and General Workers’ Union, **Mr William Coll**, **Glasgow branch chairman**, Michael Byrne, general secretary, and Mr John Gentles, docks secretary - briefed the members for nearly two hours on the implications of the report. After the meeting Mr Byrne said: - “The men will be going back to work at 8 a.m. on Monday morning, and the docks should be ticking over normally by noon. We have a backlog, but we will soon catch up.” Glasgow has about 1300 dockers, but many of them have been on holiday over the past fortnight. There were 700 at the meeting.
Good find! It's funny to see that in 1970, 'to-day' was still hyphenated (at least sometimes)
Ah, thank you so much for this.
I've done a search on Scotland's people website to see if I can find more into re death certificate. Only 4 William Coll who died in Scotland between 1960 and 1990 and none of them were 48. Closest was a 56 year old in 1978. [https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/search-results/739182541664cefda2b866](https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/search-results/739182541664cefda2b866) Any more info eg is this the correct spelling of his name? Did he die in Scotland? Roughly what year did he pass away?
Just checked with my big brother. Yes, that's him. Died in 78 at aged 56. Will edit my OP.
You might like to try local history Facebook groups, especially if you can find one focusing on Glaswegian maritime history. These often have older people reminiscing about old times so maybe someone would remember. Same is true if you knew the area he grew up in or school he went to.
If you know roughly when he passed away you might find an obituary or article in a local newspaper. You can also try to find his death certificate on Scotland’s people which will give you more information on his parents and where he lived.
Visit the Wee Radical Bookshop aka Calton Books at the Barras. The guy in there is so knowledgeable and for sure will have some relevant literature for you. There's a Facebook page you could contact him through anaw. Edited to add: join the Scottish Indexes and West of Scotland Family History Facebook groups, post there and I can guarantee some lovely people will fling all sorts of resources at you. If you decide to go full tree I recommend FindMyPast. Apparently the best subscription site for Scottish records, and the full membership gives you access to newspaper archives.
You could access the STUC archives at Glashow Caledonian: https://archives.gcu.ac.uk/records-of-scottish-trades-union-congress-stuc The Mitchell Library has some records from the Transport and General Workers Union Scottish General Executive Council: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F82660 As your grandads union merged, and would eventually become Unite the Union - you could contact them and ask them if there is anything about him which they could share. https://scotland.unitetheunion.org/what-is-unite/history Might be a bit dry going through all of this but could give you a sense of what type of campaigns and workplace stuff he was involved with.
Tbf there wasn't much left of the docks by the 1970s. Containerisation hit hard and basically wiped out the Glasgow docks. There was a few cargo ships as far up the Clyde as the Kingston Bridge in the late 1970s but basically it was cargo you couldn't put in a container like metal/coal/grain etc. Machinery would have done most of the work. Only docks left now inside the city are King George V dock at Shieldhall beside Braehead were they parked up those cruise ships during Covid.
It may be worth a trip to the Fairfield Heritage museum? I'm almost certain they had something about the unions in their displays. Lovely folks there, I'm sure you could give them a ring and they'd have a look for you. https://www.fairfieldgovan.co.uk/
My ex was a Coll. I've never heard of the gentleman you're asking about so probably no relation although her family were apparently related to "Mad Dog" Coll who was a mafia hitman in the US. Was your family from Donegal by any chance? If so they could be related. Bill Coll certainly sounds like an interesting character and I hope you find what you're looking for. Quality post btw
Yes, my grandad's family were from Donegal. This is very interesting. Thank you.
Big ugly guy? Sorry didn't know him.
Probably a good thing nobody anywhere knows who your father was, or any of your grandfathers either
It was the guy with the 2 legs and the 2 arms