Jane Rae (20 December 1872 – 12 May 1959) was a Scottish 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 vo ...

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

and justice of the peace. 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 M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Man ...

factory at Kilbowie in

Clydebank Clydebank () 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, Milton beyond) to the w ...

. She was also active in the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

movement and in the Clydeside Rent Strike. She became Branch Secretary of 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 Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

, and served as a Labour

for Clydebank Town Council from 1922 to 1928. She is commemorated with a plaque in the gardens of Clydebank Town Hall.

Early life

Rae was born in Denny,

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 resident population of 32,422 at the ...

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

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 colleagues lost their jobs. Rae was described as being strikingly tall, determined, strong-willed and studious, with 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 (UK), Labour Party, and was its first Leader of the Labour Party (UK), parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. ...

speak she joined the Clydebank branch of the

, going on to become its Branch Secretary in 1913. She was active in women's suffrage, and once chaired a talk given by

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst (; Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was a British political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women to win in 1918 the women's suffrage, right to vote in United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

at Clydebank Town Hall. She was also involved in the temperance,

anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

and

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

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. By virtue of having won the most votes in the 1922 election Jane was elected to head of the Dunbartonshire Education Authority . Combative from the start, at her first meeting as Chair, she quoted a paragraph from

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

while at the same time describing it as “mouthpiece of the oppressor”. Six years later at a farewell event, prior to her departure for Australia, a fellow committee member and political opponent confessed to being intimidated at the thought of working with her but her fears evaporated after their first meeting when she realised that “''our political views were different but the education of our children, stands on a higher plane than that of politics. I believe we have mutual respect for each other.''” 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 is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

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 country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

. When the islands came under German occupation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she witnessed the brutality of the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

towards Soviet

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held 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 prisoners of war for a ...

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 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 Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

in honour of Rae is in the gardens of the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

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

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