He was able to obtain some books by authors such as Charles Dickens, Robert Burns and William Shakespeare, but his education suffered as he had to provide income for the family.

He married Ann Hamilton on 31 December 1878, and began to educate himself in the evenings; where he worked his way up through the ranks to become the colliery checkweighman.

Following a special conference of the Miners Federation of Great Britain, a ballot was taken, and the strike that followed lasted from June until October 1894.

His early commitment to socialism was moderate, and Lib-Labs were predominant in the leadership, which clashed with the miners' political views.

Nevertheless, Smillie's qualities of leadership brought him to the forefront of the miners' struggles, and with the growth of militancy amongst certain sections, opinion changed to his favour.

All of the attempts were failures, but he eventually was elected in 1923 as the Member of Parliament for Morpeth, but refused office in the short-lived Labour government of 1924 due to his ill health.

He sponsored young female member Jennie Lee and his grandson travelled with her in the Spanish civil war and died in a communist gaol there whilst only 19 years old.

[1] In 1919, Smillie served with Joe Duncan, David Kirkwood, Tom Johnston, Willie Graham, Neil MacLean, James Maxton, John MacLean and Angus MacDonald on the Scottish National Committee which sought separate Scottish representation at the Paris Peace Conference after the First World War.