Katharine Sinclair Duncan (''née'' MacColl; 4 July 1888 – 15 August 1954) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

communist activist. Duncan was born in Tarbert, Argyllshire to Archibald MacColl, a merchant, and Agnes Gibson MacColl (''née'' Stephen).The curious life of Kath Duncan in Kirkcaldy and beyond...
, ''Fife Today'', 16 March 2017 She became a schoolteacher in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

and joined the National Union of Teachers (NUT). In 1923, she married a fellow teacher, Alexander "Sandy" Duncan, and the couple soon moved to Hackney. There, they became active in the Hackney Labour Dramatic Group and the Independent Labour Party. However, their experience of the UK general strike of 1926 led them to instead join the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

(CPGB).

Graham Stevenson Graham Barry Stevenson (16 December 1955 – 21 January 2014) was an English cricketer, who played in two Test matches and four One Day Internationals from 1980 to 1981. His county cricket career was spent mainly with Yorkshire and, latterly, ...

,
Duncan, Kath
, ''Compendium of Communist Biography'' Duncan soon came to prominence in the CPGB, renowned as a powerful speaker. In 1929, she was elected to the party's central committee, although she stood down the following year, when she moved to Deptford. There, she focused her time on the

National Unemployed Workers Movement The National Unemployed Workers' Movement was a British organisation set up in 1921 by members of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It aimed to draw attention to the plight of unemployed workers during the post First World War slump, the 1926 ...

(NUWM), organising large demonstrations. She stood unsuccessfully for Greenwich at the 1931 general election. During 1932, local dockers marched in opposition to ships sending arms to Japan, which had just invaded Manchuria. After one demonstration in Woolwich, both Kath and Sandy spoke; police charged the crowd and Sandy was hospitalised. A larger protest meeting was held the following day on the

Deptford Broadway The A2 is a major road in south-east England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. This route has always been of importance as a connection between London and sea trade routes to Continental Europe. It was original ...

, with Kath calling for the inspector in charge at the original demonstration to be sacked. In December, Kath was charged with disturbing the peace over her speeches; she would not accept a condition of being bound over to the keep the peace, so was instead sentenced to six months in Holloway Prison. Following Duncan's release, the London County Council removed her from their list of approved teachers, but the NUT organised a petition in her support, and the council reversed their decision. Duncan, meanwhile, continued frequent public speeches, particularly in support of the NUWM. In 1934, she stood for election to the London County Council in Deptford, but was not successful. Duncan was again arrested in 1935, for speaking outside an unemployment exchange and refusing to move when asked by the police. The

National Council for Civil Liberties Liberty, formerly, and still formally, called the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), is an advocacy group and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, which challenges unjust laws, protects civil liberties and promotes hu ...

supported her in one of their first interventions in a court case; she was found guilty, but the case of Duncan vs Jones became a landmark, establishing that free speech was generally permitted, unless genuinely thought likely to cause a disturbance. In the later 1930s, much of Duncan's time was devoted to opposing fascism, and she took part in the Battle of Cable Street. She was also central to the Aid to Spain movement, and interviewed volunteers for the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. Sandy died during World War II, and Kath increasingly struggled with

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

. Although still generally supportive of the CPGB, she began working for the local Labour Party Member of Parliament. Yet, by the early 1950s, she was too ill to work, and she moved in with her sister in

, dying in

Stracathro Hospital Stracathro Hospital is a community hospital in Angus, Scotland. Established as a wartime Emergency Hospital Service facility during the Second World War, it was afterward developed as a District General Hospital. Since 2005 it has been the site o ...

in 1954. During the 1930s she lived in Ommaney Road, New Cross London SE14.Deptford Electoral register

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Kath 1888 births 1954 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain members People from Argyll and Bute