Mary Jeff | |
---|---|
Born | 1873 Glasgow, Scotland |
Died | 1941 (aged 67–68) |
Nationality | Scottish |
Occupation | Politician |
Known for | Local Politics |
Mary Jeff (1873-1941) was a Scottish activist and politician who was involved in the Glasgow rent strike.
Mary Jeff was born Mary Russell Watson in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire in 1873. She moved to Govan in 1896, and lived there with her husband, printer Andrew Jeff, and their three sons. [1] [2]
Mary and her husband were active in their community. They both had a key role in the Govan rent strike, Andrew as chair of the South Govan Tenants Committee, and Mary as part of the group of women who campaigned against eviction, and orchestrated the defence against bailiffs. Other women involved in this activity were Mary Barbour, Agnes Dollan, Mary Laird and Helen Crawfurd. [3] [1] She was a member of the Kinning Park Co-operative Women's Guild and the chairwoman of the Ladies section of the Govan War Memorial Committee. Two of her three sons had served in World War I, one of whom died. [1]
She was elected to Govan parish council in 1919, and served until at least 1926, on both the Children's Committee and the Relief Committee. [4] [5] [6]
In later years, she moved to Milngavie, where she was a member of Milngavie Bowling Club and an active member of the Deacon's court of St Luke's Church of Scotland. [7]
She died in 1941 in Milngavie, and was buried in Old Monkland Cemetery. [7]
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Red Clydeside was the era of political radicalism in Glasgow, Scotland, and areas around the city, on the banks of the River Clyde, such as Clydebank, Greenock, Dumbarton and Paisley, from the 1910s until the early 1930s. Red Clydeside is a significant part of the history of the labour movement in Britain as a whole, and Scotland in particular.
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Mary Barbour was a Scottish political activist, local councillor, bailie and magistrate. Barbour was closely associated with the Red Clydeside movement in the early 20th century and especially for her role as the main organiser of the women of Govan who took part in the rent strikes of 1915.
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Isabella Ure Elder (1828–1905) was a Scottish philanthropist who took a particular interest in education, especially of women, and in the welfare of the people of Govan in Glasgow. In Govan alone, Elder was responsible for building Elder Park Library, a School for Domestic Economy, Cottage Hospital, the Cottage Nurses Training Home, and erecting a statue in honour of her husband John Elder. She also gave Elder Park to the people of Govan. Many of her philanthropic works are still open to the community today.
Helen Crawfurd Anderson was a Scottish suffragette, rent strike organiser, Communist activist and politician. Born in Glasgow, she was brought up there and in the London area.
Agnes Johnston Dollan MBE, also known as Agnes, Lady Dollan, was a Scottish suffragette and political activist. She was a leading campaigner during the Glasgow Rent Strikes, and a founding organiser of the Women's Peace Crusade. In 1919, she was the first woman selected by the Labour party to stand for election to Glasgow Town Council, and later became Lady Provost of Glasgow.
Mary Burns Laird was a founding member and first President of the Glasgow Women's Housing Association, a President of the Partick Branch of the Women's Labour League, associated with the Red Clydeside movement, and supported the Glasgow Rent Strikes of 1915 alongside Mary Barbour, Agnes Dollan, Mary Jeff and Helen Crawfurd. Laird went on to participate in wider social activism for women and children's rights.
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Glasgow Women's Housing Association (GWHA) was established in Glasgow, Scotland, in mid-1914 by the Independent Labour Party Housing Committee launched by Andrew McBride in 1913 and the Women's Labour League in reaction to the increasing rent prices and overcrowding exacerbated by the advent of the First World War.
Red Skirts on Clydeside, produced in 1984, is the fifth documentary film made by the Sheffield Film Cooperative. It follows the process of rediscovering women's histories, focusing on the Glasgow Rent Strikes of 1915 and four of the women involved: Helen Crawfurd, Agnes Dollan, Mary Barbour, Jean Fergusson.
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