Mary Brooksbank

Mary Brooksbank
Born
Mary Soutar[1]

15 December 1897[1]
Aberdeen[1]
Died16 March 1978 (aged 80)[1]
Ninewells Hospital, Dundee[1]
NationalityScottish[1]
Occupation(s)Mill worker, songwriter[1]
Known forSocialist activism, trade unionism and songwriting[1]

Mary Brooksbank (born Soutar; 15 December 1897 – 16 March 1978) was a Scottish mill worker, socialist, trade unionist and songwriter.[1] She was an active member of the Communist Party of Great Britain between 1920 and 1933, and spent three periods in prison as a result of her agitation.[1][2] She attended John Maclean's last meetings at the Scottish Labour College.[1][2][3]

She is remembered today as a prominent figure in Dundee's labour movement.[1] She founded the Working Women Guild to fight for better health and social services in Dundee, securing a membership of over 300, and was heavily involved in October 1934 with the National Unemployed Workers Movement county march to Forfar, to lobby the County Council; contingents were raised from Dundee, Blairgowrie, Montrose, Ferryden and Arbroath.[1][4]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Smith, Graham (23 September 2004). "Brooksbank [née Soutar], Mary Watson (1897–1978), revolutionary and songwriter". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54394. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 27 December 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b Chris Bambery (2014). A People's History of Scotland. Verso Books. pp. 240–. ISBN 978-1-78168-284-5. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Mary Brooksbank - Revolutionary, Poet and Songwriter". Alternative Perth. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  4. ^ Stevenson, Graham. "Brooksbank Mary". Retrieved 1 September 2014.