Smillie noted that Small would rise early in the morning to walk to meetings as much as twenty miles away, and in summer would often sleep outdoors to avoid having to complete the return journey the same day.
[7] Small's politics gradually moved towards socialism,[3] and his cottage became a centre for discussions between leading socialist activists, including William Morris, Henry Hyndman and Edward Carpenter.
[8] Small joined Hardie's Scottish Labour Party,[3] eventually becoming a vice-president, and was considered as a potential candidate in Dundee at the 1892 general election, though he was not ultimately selected.
[5] Small was less central to mining trade unionism by the turn of the century, devoting some of his time to an elected post on Blantyre's School Board.
[7][10] A younger son, Gladstone Lothian Rosebery, attended the University of Glasgow and stood unsuccessfully as a Labour Party candidate for Parliament.