Samuel Hird was a prolific writer and essayist, particularly during his retirement. Most significantly, he wrote an autobiography, which runs to over 1000 folios, and describes in detail his work as a factory inspector. This account (HIR/1/1), believed to be unique of its kind, provides fascinating details into industrial working practices in Britain during the first half of the 20th century.
Hird wrote a number of other long essays about inspectorate work, including "Cooperation and Compulsion", which outlined his views on the benefits of employer-union cooperation in the industry, and "Factory Inspection: an episode" where he expressed strong views on the relative merits of male and female inspectors. He also wrote more generally about industrial safety (a personal interest) and the Lancashire cotton industry, about whose long-term fortunes he remained highly sceptical, as expressed in his 1940s lecture "The cotton trade". These work-related writings can be found in HIR/1/2.
In retirement, Hird's interests turned to other subjects, particularly politics, religion and contemporary social mores. He wrote a series of short essays, some of which were offered for publication, but most appear to have been written for his own satisfaction. These essays provide some interesting commentaries on life during the 1940s and 1950s (HIR/1/3). Hird was particularly interested in the state of contemporary religious life in Britain; Hird believed the churches were not responding effectively to contemporary religious indifference, and were failing to project appropriate models of a Christian life (an area where he believed laymen could be as effective as clerics). Hird explored this idea at length in his imaginary correspondence between Sigma and Omicron, written between 1946 and 1950 (HIR/1/5).
Hird's essays also document his growing disillusion with contemporary politics, where he felt empty formalities and bad faith were prevalent. Hird was notably critical of the postwar Labour government, particularly its links to the unions and inertia about industrial unrest. Hird had been sympathetic to trades unionism when a factory inspector, believing they could contribute constructively to better working conditions. However, he believed they were becoming excessively sectional with a narrow and largely unjustified focus on increasing their members' wages at all costs. Overall, the tone of his essays became increasingly pessimistic.
Hird wrote several pieces of short fiction (HIR/1/4), at least one of which was published in a newspaper.