Mary Gillon Armistead (17 July 1898 to 2 January 2002) 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 ...

tram conductress or clippie during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life

Mary Gillon was born 17 July 1898 in

Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to Allan Anderson Gillon, a

fishmonger A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, me ...

, and Agnes Ewing. At 14 years old, she left school to start working at her father's fish shop in

Portobello Portobello, Porto Bello, Porto Belo, Portabello, or Portabella may refer to: Places Brazil * Porto Belo Ireland * Portobello, Dublin * Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin formerly ''Portobello Barracks'' New Zealand * Portobello, New Zealand, on Ot ...

Career

After working in her father's shop, Gillon was employed at the Buttercup Dairy Company. She later joined Edinburgh's cable tram services as a tram conductress in 1916 at the age of 17. She was given a uniform, but would pair it with long steps as her skirt would often get wet. At each station, she had three minutes to turn the seats back in the direction of travel, clean the area for litter and search for lost items, and change the points and pull down the steps for the next passengers to enter. The shifts were long; they were nine hours and the late shift did not finish until 11:35 pm. Tram conductresses did not have time for a break; they ate their meals on the platform. She left her post after the war in August 1919 and went on to work at the

Craigmillar Creamery The Craigmillar Creamery Company Limited, located in Craigmillar, Midlothian, Scotland, was established in 1884 as "The largest margarine factory in Scotland". In 1894, they launched a lawsuit against refrigeration and ice-making manufacturer, Si ...

Later life and death

Gillon married George Armistead, a motor lorry driver and

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

, on 12 June 1924. She died in

Perth, Scotland Perth (Scottish English, locally: ; gd, Peairt ) is a city in central Scotland, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population o ...

2 January 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillon, Mary 1898 births 2002 deaths British people in rail transport 20th-century Scottish people 20th-century Scottish women