Agnes "Nan" Paterson Hardie (5 October 1885 – 27 June 1947) was a Scottish labour movement activist.

Life

Hardie was born in

Cumnock Cumnock (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cumnag'') is a town and former civil parish located in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The town sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water. There are three neighbouring housing projects which lie just o ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, Hardie was the daughter of Keir and Lilian Hardie. Hardie was then a prominent mining trade unionist, and he later became the first leader of the Labour Party. Keir believed that Nan would be his political heir, and spent a large amount of time discussing politics with her, and introduced her to other leading figures in the movement; notably,

John Bruce Glasier John Bruce Glasier (25 March 1859 – 4 June 1920) was a Scottish socialist politician, associated mainly with the Independent Labour Party. He was opposed to the First World War. Biography Glasier was born in Glasgow as John Bruce, but grew u ...

, with whom she retained a long-term friendship.William Knox, ''Scottish Labour Leaders 1918-1939'', pp.137–139 Nan left school at the age of fourteen but, three years later, became seriously ill, suffering from

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

and

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...

; although she recovered, she suffered with poor health for the remainder of her life. She accompanied her father on many speaking trips, including one to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

in 1912, until 1915 when he became ill; Nan and her mother looked after him until he died, later in the year. In 1924, Hardie married

Emrys Hughes Emrys Daniel Hughes (10 July 1894 – 18 October 1969) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, journalist and author. He was Labour MP for South Ayrshire in Scotland from 1946 to 1969. Among his many published books was a biography of his father ...

, a socialist journalist, and she spent much of the next decade assisting him in his journalistic and political career. In 1933, she herself was elected to Cumnock Town Council, on which she served as convenor of the Public Health Committee. In 1935, she succeeded her husband as provost, and the two together waged a long campaign for

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

and their replacement with

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

. This was massively successful, and by 1939, three-quarters of the town's population lived in council houses. Hardie took a particular interest in children's activities, founding a park and

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in the town, and also promoted cycling. She was appointed as a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

, and 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 ...

chaired the Cumnock War Work Party; although, like her husband, she opposed the conflict, she was keen to assist in the welfare of those serving in the force and their dependents. In 1946, Hughes became seriously ill, and Hardie tried to resign as provost. Instead, the council persuaded her to take a leave of absence, but the process of caring for him damaged her own health, and she died in June 1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardie, Nan 1885 births 1947 deaths Scottish Labour councillors People from Cumnock Women provosts in Scotland Women councillors in Scotland