Mary Jeff
Born1873 (1873)
Glasgow, Scotland
Died1941 (aged 67–68)
Milngavie, Scotland
NationalityScottish
OccupationPolitician
Known forLocal politics

Mary Jeff (1873–1941) was a Scottish activist and politician who was involved in the Glasgow rent strike.

Mary Barbour Statue - Front view

Early life and education

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]

Community Activism and Political career

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]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mary Jeff". Govan Press. 17 November 1922.
  2. ↑ "Andrew Jeff: Ancestry.com. Scotland, National Probate Index (Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories), 1876-1936". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  3. ↑ Melling, Joseph (1983). Rent strikes : peoples' struggle for housing in West Scotland, 1890-1916. Edinburgh: Polygon. p. 65.
  4. ↑ Dollan, Patrick (1923). History of the Kinning Park Co-operative Society Limited. p. 147.
  5. ↑ "Govan relief: New scale defeated: Large expenditure". The Scotsman. 26 November 1926.
  6. ↑ Govan Parish Council Records. Glasgow City Archives. D-HEW5/1/1.
  7. 1 2 "Death of Mrs Jeff". Milngavie and Bearsden Herald. 6 September 1941.
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