Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 23 May 2013
23 May 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Mary Barbour Commemoration
I am genuinely delighted to bring the campaign to recognise Mary Barbour’s achievements and legacy before the Scottish Parliament, and I thank members across the chamber for their cross-party support and for joining me in calling for a statue to be dedicated to the memory of Mrs Barbour.
The impact that Mary Barbour had on the lives of women, children and ordinary families in Govan is undeniable. Too many of us are unaware of the changes that she brought about for people across Glasgow. I hope that members will acknowledge some of those changes in their speeches.
Mary Rough was born into a working-class family in Kilbarchan in 1875. Later, she moved with her family to the village of Elderslie. That was before she married David Barbour and settled in the Govan area of Glasgow, where she worked as a thread twister and carpet printer. As a working-class mother of two children in Govan, she was well aware of the poverty and deprivation faced by ordinary people, particularly women. Those experiences led her to take an active part in Scotland’s first co-operative women’s guild at the Kinning Park Co-operative Society. That guild later became known for producing a generation of leading female politicians and activists, many of whom played a crucial role in the establishment of women’s housing associations throughout Glasgow and in the 1915 rent strike.
It was during that rent strike that Mary became known for her effective local activism and for encouraging the political radicalisation of ordinary working people in Glasgow. Mary recognised the need to organise women into a united resistance that would fight against underhand rent increases being applied by unscrupulous landlords. In her efforts to challenge that injustice, she went on to form the South Govan Housing Association, which would later become known as Mary Barbour’s army.
The housing associations later brought about an end to the protests when, on 17 November 1915, they initiated one of Glasgow’s biggest demonstrations. That mass demonstration, which included shipyard workers who downed tools, was in response to eviction notices being served on 47 local campaigners. The protestors’ march on the courts shocked the establishment so much that rents were frozen at pre-war levels, and eventually led to the Housing, Town Planning, &c Act 1919.
Mary became Glasgow’s first woman councillor in 1920. Throughout her 11 years as a councillor for the Fairfield ward in Govan, she championed the needs of working-class women and children. She was instrumental in the establishment of public washhouses, laundries and baths. She is perhaps most famous as the campaigner who brought about an initiative that supplied fresh milk to schoolchildren free of charge. She also promoted the development of child welfare centres, brought about the establishment of home help for vulnerable people living alone and championed the introduction of a pension scheme for mothers.
Mary broke new ground in 1924 when she became the first woman baillie in the Glasgow Corporation. She used her time as baillie to support calls for birth control for women and chaired the women’s welfare and advisory clinic, Glasgow’s first family planning centre. She retired from politics in 1931, having played a pivotal role in improving the lives of working people, championing in particular the rights of women and children across Glasgow.
The case for a permanent monument to commemorate Mary Barbour’s achievements is compelling. As we move towards sourcing funding for our monument, we must remember the campaign’s significance not only for Govan, Glasgow and Mary Barbour’s legacy but in highlighting the wider absence of memorials to historically significant women. The excellent work of the mapping memorials to women in Scotland project addresses that issue. Developed by women’s history Scotland, the Glasgow Women’s Library and Girlguiding Scotland, the project has helped map out the locations of memorials to women throughout Scotland. The project, which received a message of support from the First Minister last year, is vital in ensuring that the contributions of women throughout history are not overlooked.
Our campaign has relied on the hard work of many people, but some deserve a special mention. I take the opportunity to thank Maria Fyfe, who chairs the remember Mary Barbour committee and has worked tirelessly to raise the campaign’s profile—she sends her sincere apologies for her unavoidable absence today; Cathy Jamieson MP; Mary Lockhart, who has worked incredibly hard within the Co-operative movement on the issue; Caroline Wilson of the Glasgow Evening Times, who has shown huge commitment to and passion for the campaign; Sharon Thomas, an artist, who was commissioned to produce a unique portrait of Mary Barbour; Elaine Dougall of Unite the Union; the women’s committee of the Scottish Trades Union Congress; Glasgow Labour women’s forum; and Glasgow city councillors. I thank all of them and the countless others who have joined us along the way.
I hope that the debate will encourage greater awareness of the life and achievements of Mary Barbour. Again, I thank all those who have worked so hard to bring about a permanent and lasting reminder of a true Glasgow heroine.
12:39
The impact that Mary Barbour had on the lives of women, children and ordinary families in Govan is undeniable. Too many of us are unaware of the changes that she brought about for people across Glasgow. I hope that members will acknowledge some of those changes in their speeches.
Mary Rough was born into a working-class family in Kilbarchan in 1875. Later, she moved with her family to the village of Elderslie. That was before she married David Barbour and settled in the Govan area of Glasgow, where she worked as a thread twister and carpet printer. As a working-class mother of two children in Govan, she was well aware of the poverty and deprivation faced by ordinary people, particularly women. Those experiences led her to take an active part in Scotland’s first co-operative women’s guild at the Kinning Park Co-operative Society. That guild later became known for producing a generation of leading female politicians and activists, many of whom played a crucial role in the establishment of women’s housing associations throughout Glasgow and in the 1915 rent strike.
It was during that rent strike that Mary became known for her effective local activism and for encouraging the political radicalisation of ordinary working people in Glasgow. Mary recognised the need to organise women into a united resistance that would fight against underhand rent increases being applied by unscrupulous landlords. In her efforts to challenge that injustice, she went on to form the South Govan Housing Association, which would later become known as Mary Barbour’s army.
The housing associations later brought about an end to the protests when, on 17 November 1915, they initiated one of Glasgow’s biggest demonstrations. That mass demonstration, which included shipyard workers who downed tools, was in response to eviction notices being served on 47 local campaigners. The protestors’ march on the courts shocked the establishment so much that rents were frozen at pre-war levels, and eventually led to the Housing, Town Planning, &c Act 1919.
Mary became Glasgow’s first woman councillor in 1920. Throughout her 11 years as a councillor for the Fairfield ward in Govan, she championed the needs of working-class women and children. She was instrumental in the establishment of public washhouses, laundries and baths. She is perhaps most famous as the campaigner who brought about an initiative that supplied fresh milk to schoolchildren free of charge. She also promoted the development of child welfare centres, brought about the establishment of home help for vulnerable people living alone and championed the introduction of a pension scheme for mothers.
Mary broke new ground in 1924 when she became the first woman baillie in the Glasgow Corporation. She used her time as baillie to support calls for birth control for women and chaired the women’s welfare and advisory clinic, Glasgow’s first family planning centre. She retired from politics in 1931, having played a pivotal role in improving the lives of working people, championing in particular the rights of women and children across Glasgow.
The case for a permanent monument to commemorate Mary Barbour’s achievements is compelling. As we move towards sourcing funding for our monument, we must remember the campaign’s significance not only for Govan, Glasgow and Mary Barbour’s legacy but in highlighting the wider absence of memorials to historically significant women. The excellent work of the mapping memorials to women in Scotland project addresses that issue. Developed by women’s history Scotland, the Glasgow Women’s Library and Girlguiding Scotland, the project has helped map out the locations of memorials to women throughout Scotland. The project, which received a message of support from the First Minister last year, is vital in ensuring that the contributions of women throughout history are not overlooked.
Our campaign has relied on the hard work of many people, but some deserve a special mention. I take the opportunity to thank Maria Fyfe, who chairs the remember Mary Barbour committee and has worked tirelessly to raise the campaign’s profile—she sends her sincere apologies for her unavoidable absence today; Cathy Jamieson MP; Mary Lockhart, who has worked incredibly hard within the Co-operative movement on the issue; Caroline Wilson of the Glasgow Evening Times, who has shown huge commitment to and passion for the campaign; Sharon Thomas, an artist, who was commissioned to produce a unique portrait of Mary Barbour; Elaine Dougall of Unite the Union; the women’s committee of the Scottish Trades Union Congress; Glasgow Labour women’s forum; and Glasgow city councillors. I thank all of them and the countless others who have joined us along the way.
I hope that the debate will encourage greater awareness of the life and achievements of Mary Barbour. Again, I thank all those who have worked so hard to bring about a permanent and lasting reminder of a true Glasgow heroine.
12:39
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-05921, in the name of Anne McTaggart, on Mary Barbour commemoration. The debate will be...
Anne McTaggart (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I am genuinely delighted to bring the campaign to recognise Mary Barbour’s achievements and legacy before the Scottish Parliament, and I thank members across...
Ruth Davidson (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
I congratulate Anne McTaggart on securing the debate. As participants in it are acutely aware, Glasgow has an honourable tradition of electing gobby women. I...
Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (Lab)
Lab
I congratulate my friend and colleague Anne McTaggart on securing the debate, and I congratulate my friend and former colleague Maria Fyfe on the initiative ...
Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP)
SNP
I congratulate Anne McTaggart on securing the debate. I am reminded of the debate on science that we had on Tuesday, and the comments in that debate about en...
Hanzala Malik (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
Good afternoon, Presiding Officer. I am really privileged to take part in this debate and I thank Anne McTaggart for bringing it to the chamber.Mary Barbour ...
Hugh Henry (Renfrewshire South) (Lab)
Lab
I thank Anne McTaggart for giving the Parliament the opportunity to put on record our appreciation of the contribution that Mary Barbour and the generation t...
The Minister for Housing and Welfare (Margaret Burgess)
SNP
I, too, thank Anne McTaggart for bringing the debate to the chamber. It is always important to recognise the pioneering women who took vital steps in politic...
Patricia Ferguson
Lab
I am delighted that the Government and its ministers are so firmly behind Mary Barbour as an inspirational figure. Would they therefore be willing to make a ...
Margaret Burgess
SNP
That is something that I will take back and look at. I cannot comment on that at this stage but, as I have said, she was certainly an inspirational woman, an...