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Jamesina Anderson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jamesina Anderson
Born1885 (1885)
Glasgow, Scotland
Died1977 (aged 91–92)
Glasgow, Scotland
OccupationPolitician
Known forLocal Politics

Jamesina Anderson (née McKenna) (1885–1977) was a Scottish politician, socialist, and advocate of the rights of working-class people, especially the elderly and children.

Early life and education

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Jamesina McKenna was born in Glasgow, Scotland in December 1885. Her father, a cab driver, had died three months before her birth. Her mother remarried in 1888. Jamesina left school aged 13–14 and was a hand-loom weaver and milliner until 1906 when she married John Anderson, an iron-milling machinist and a foreman at Singer's sewing machine factory in Clydebank. They had eight children, of whom six survived her.[1] They lived in Maryhill, Glasgow.

Welfare and Workers' Rights

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She was a founding member of the Maryhill Ward Committee in 1920 and was elected several times as chair, until it was disbanded following local government reconstruction in 1977.[1][2] She had a particular interest in the welfare of the elderly, organising fund-raising and holiday events for older people during her working life, and after she retired from the council.[1][2][3][4]

Political career

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She was elected to Glasgow Town Council as a Labour Party Councillor for Maryhill in 1945, and represented Maryhill Ward 18 from 1945 to 1962. She was elected as magistrate in 1947, was a Baillie from 1947 to 1951, and served as a Police Court Judge for the burgh of Maryhill from 1951.[1][5][6] On the council, she served on a variety of standing committees and was convenor of the Children's Committee.[1][6][7] She was also on the sub-committee for Boarding-Out, in which role she travelled to check on children who had been boarded-out to be looked after[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "The woman Bailie who fought for young and old". Glasgow Herald. 7 June 1977. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  2. ^ a b Mitchell, Andrew S (1975). The 18th Maryhill Ward Committee: A Backward Look.
  3. ^ "At Maryhill: Wartime Difficulties and Old Folks' Treat". The Western Leader. 20 April 1940.
  4. ^ "Maryhill Ward Committee's Old Folks' Treat". Maryhill Clarion. November 1949.
  5. ^ "Glasgow Appointments". The Scotsman. 7 November 1947.
  6. ^ a b City of Glasgow Corporation Diary 1945–1963. Glasgow Corporation.
  7. ^ "Progressives hope to win Maryhill". Glasgow Herald. 6 June 1960.