Jane Rae (20 December 1872 – 12 May 1959) was a British political activist,

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

and

Justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. She was one of the activists involved in the 1911 all-out strike at the

Singer Sewing Machine Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac Singer, Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward Cabot Clark, Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing mac ...

factory at Kilbowie in

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

, Branch Secretary of the Clydebank branch of the Independent Labour Party, and a Labour councillor for Clydebank Town Council.

Early life

Rae was born in Denny,

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

on 20 December 1872 to Elizabeth Cossens and Livingston Rae, an

ironmonger Ironmongery originally referred, first, to the manufacture of iron goods and, second, to the place of sale of such items for domestic rather than industrial use. In both contexts, the term has expanded to include items made of steel, aluminium ...

. She later moved to

with her family.

Activism

Rae worked at the

factory at Kilbowie in Clydebank in the Needle Flat''' department where needles were made, sorted and checked. Resentful of the working practices imposed at the factory, including wage undercutting, increased workloads, job timing and work reorganisation she became one of the activists in the all-out strike at the factory that ran from March to April in 1911. For her involvement in the strike, she and more than 400 of her fellow work colleagues lost their jobs. Rae was described as being strikingly tall, determined, strong-willed and studious, political conviction in progressing society and improving conditions for workers. After hearing the Scottish socialist

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...

speak she joined the Clydebank branch of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

, going on to become its Branch Secretary in 1913. She was active in

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

, and once chaired a talk given by

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

at Clydebank Town Hall. She was also involved in the

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

and

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

movements, and in the Clydeside Rent Strike. In 1922 she was elected as a Labour Party councillor for Clydebank Town Council, holding her seat until 1928. She was also a Justice of the peace, and in carrying out her duties was known for handing out the toughest sentences possible to men that had subjected women to

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

Later life and death

In 1929, after the death of her mother, Rae married her longtime Australian friend Alfred Coates, and emigrated with him to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. In 1938 Rae and her husband returned to the UK, settling in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. When the islands came under German occupation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she witnessed the brutality of the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

towards Soviet

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

and as a precaution destroyed all of her socialist literature, information and records. In 1946, after her husband died, Rae returned to Clydebank where she remained until her death in 1959.

Tributes

A plaque erected by

West Dunbartonshire Council West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

in honour of Rae is in the gardens of the Town Hall on Dumbarton Road. On unveiling the plaque Provost Douglas McAllister said "''This memorial plaque is in recognition of the many activities, locally and nationally that Jane was involved in. Her determination to help and support others, regardless of the personal consequences to herself was quite remarkable. She cared passionately about her community and was also involved in the Clydebank Rent Strike during the 1920s''." Jane Rae Gardens on the Whitecrook housing estate is named in commemoration of her. In 2012 the BBC produced a short film about the strike at the Singer Sewing Machine factory, and an actor portraying Jane Rae narrated the story.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Jane 1872 births 1959 deaths People from Renfrewshire Scottish Labour councillors Women councillors in Scotland Scottish activists Red Clydeside Scottish suffragists Scottish temperance activists Councillors in West Dunbartonshire