Dame Jean Barr MacDonald Roberts, DBE ( Weir; 1895 – 1988) was a Scottish politician who served as Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1960 to 1962, the first ever female Lord Provost. She was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. She was a member of the Independent Labour Party.

Life

Jean Roberts was born at 36 Avenue Road in

Springburn Springburn ( gd, Allt an Fhuairainn) is an inner-city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, made up of generally working-class households. Springburn developed from a rural hamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its indu ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

on 20 December 1895 the daughter of Mary Nevin, and her husband Walter Weir (1867-1926), a railway engineer of Fulton & Weir. Her parents seem to have separated soon after (or perhaps slightly before) her birth, as her father then married Helen Granger, his cousin. The family then lived at Ravenslea, a villa in

Bearsden Bearsden () is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow. Approximately from Glasgow city centre, Glasgow City Centre, the town is effectively a suburb, and its housing development coincided with t ...

. She was raised in the

area of Glasgow. She was educated locally at the Albert School then the Whitehill School in

Dennistoun Dennistoun is a mostly residential district in Glasgow, Scotland, located north of the River Clyde and in the city's east end, about east of the city centre. Since 2017 it has formed the core of a Dennistoun ward under Glasgow City Council, ...

. She trained at Dundas Vale Teacher Training College.Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, Elizabeth Ewan She then became a primary school teacher at Bishop Street School in the city centre. Roberts' political career began in 1929 when she successfully stood for the Kingston ward on the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

. In 1933 Labour gained control of

and she began being given various committee roles within the town council. In 1936 she was Senior Magistrate for Glasgow and in 1952 was City Treasurer. Becoming leader of the Labour Party in 1955, she was elected Lord Provost (or, technically, "Lady Provost") in 1960. This critical period of tenure involved much slum clearance in the city and she famously toured the Gorbals district with Queen Elizabeth II in 1961, discussing redevelopment proposals and receiving much press coverage during this trip. The Queen created her a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(DBE) in the

1962 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1962 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made "on the occ ...

. Roberts was chair of the Scottish National Orchestra Society. From 1965 to 1972 she was Chair of the

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

Development Corporation.

Personal life and death

In 1922 she married Cameron Roberts (died 1964), a maths teacher. They had one daughter. Roberts died in Glasgow on 26 March 1988, at the age of 92.Glasgow Herald (newspaper) 29 March 1988

References

1895 births 1988 deaths Lord Provosts of Glasgow People educated at Whitehill Secondary School People from Springburn Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Scottish women politicians 20th-century Scottish politicians Women councillors in Glasgow History of women in the United Kingdom {{Scotland-provost-stub