General Themes
Women
By Irene Maver
A woman played a crucial, if understated role in the creation of Clydebank. Grace Hamilton of Barns and Cochno (1797-1887) originally owned the lands of West Barns o'Clyde that were acquired by the firm of J & G Thomson for their extended shipbuilding enterprise. On 1 May 1871 she had the distinction of ceremonially breaking the ground in order that work could commence on constructing the new yard, which subsequently proved to be so vital for Clydebank's industrial success. The Cochno Hamiltons were a branch of the ducal house of Hamilton and had been in residence at their Dunbartonshire estate since the mid-16th century. Grace, who inherited the estate from her brother, was a noted philanthropist and Clydebank's Hamilton Free Church, built in 1884, was named after her.
Schools
The welfare of the new community was also the concern of Jessie Pitblado (1844-1906), who moved to Clydebank in 1871 when her shipwright husband, William, transferred from J & G Thomson's Govan yard. She opened a small school in a tenement at Clydebank Terrace, close to the main shipyard gate. "Pitbluidy's Schule" provided basic education for workers' children and there were two similar private schools run by women in the Old Kilpatrick parish. However, the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act put paid to these unregulated establishments and an elected School Board administered the elementary schooling of Clydebank's children until 1918. Given the spectacular growth of the town, it proved difficult for the Board to provide sufficient school accommodation and there was constant demand for teachers, who were generally women.
The Co-operative Movement
The inauguration of Clydebank Co-operative Society in 1881 was another enduring landmark for the town's female population. The Society's founders were shipyard workers who were determined to supply groceries and other goods at fair prices. An added bonus was that members received an annual dividend out of the profits. Although women were at first excluded from the management of this hugely successful enterprise, as shoppers and consumers they were drawn to the work of the co-operative movement. Indeed, Clydebank women were pioneers in this respect, because of their commitment to the Scottish Co-operative Women's Guild, formed in 1893 as a social and educational forum. Later that year they founded the Guild's first local branch in Scotland and such was its popularity that by 1914 a further four branches had emerged in Clydebank. In 1948 the figure had increased to eleven branches with 1,500 members, demonstrating how integral the Guild had become to the town's social life.
Politics
Guild activism also helped to politicise Clydebank's women. Bella Lappin (1879-1961) became a dedicated guildswoman during the 1900s, eventually serving as President of the Dalmuir branch as well as on the central committee of the Scottish association. She joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and in 1919 was the first woman to be elected to Clydebank Town Council, representing the Fourth Ward. In 1922 Bella was joined on the Council by Jane Rae (1872-1959), who initially had been active in the Liberal Party. However, in the years immediately before 1914 her politics had swung to the left. She supported the militant women's suffrage campaign and lost her job at the Singer sewing machine factory for participating in the abortive 1911 strike over wage rates and trade union recognition. Jane was persuaded to join the ILP after hearing the Labour leader, James Keir Hardie, and in 1913 she became the secretary of its Clydebank branch.
The Singer Factory
Shipbuilding may have provided the main work opportunities for Clydebank's men, but as Jane Rae's role in the Singer strike revealed, manufacturing had become a substantial employer of women by 1914. Numbers increased significantly during the First World War, as employers attempted to maximise munitions production. Thus, in 1916 there were some 4,800 women working at Singer, but by 1918 there were over 8,200, assembling shells, hand grenades, engine and aircraft parts. The munitions drive brought social dislocation to the west of Scotland because of the housing shortages created by the unprecedented concentration of labour. Female-led protests against war profiteering were widespread and a Fair Rent League was established in Clydebank. Even though the Government pegged rent levels at pre-war prices, the issue remained bitterly contentious in the immediate aftermath of the war.
Housing
The Clydebank Housing Association (CHA) was the vehicle that co-ordinated resistance to legislation of 1919 and 1920 that permitted landlords to increase the "standard rent" fixed in 1914. Bella Lappin used her administrative abilities as the CHA's treasurer, while Jane Rae used her communication skills to raise public awareness about the legitimacy of the tenants' cause. A younger generation of women took a robust stance in attempts to thwart the landlords' efforts to extract payment or procure eviction. Jenny Hyslop (1898-1989) came to Clydebank in 1921 as a new bride from Glasgow and immediately threw herself into the rents strike. In old age she left oral testimony about her experiences, describing how she alerted other women to the intrusion of the Sheriff's Officers: "I had a big bell ... and I just out and rang the bell and everything was dropped".
The Second World War
Although the rents struggle eventually collapsed in 1928, women gained confidence as community activists because of their involvement. Jenny Hyslop joined the Communist Party and served as a councillor for the Fifth Ward between 1938 and 1946. During the 1930s she opposed the seeming inevitability of war with Germany, yet after the outbreak of hostilities in 1939 she became the west of Scotland's first female section head for the ARP (Air Raid Precautions). For the duration of the war the Women's Voluntary Service was an organised part of the town's civil defence arrangements, along with the ARP, Auxiliary Fire Service and Home Guard. Together with the casualty services, these had played a pivotal role during the Clydebank Blitz and women like Mary Haldane showed exceptional bravery. A young ambulance attendant, she rescued injured people after her own vehicle and another was caught in the blast of a high-explosive bomb.
Brave New World
Clydebank became a symbol of Scotland's structural regeneration after 1945. Despite the climate of austerity that prevailed until the end of rationing in June 1954, women were determined to protect the gains of the post-war welfare state in terms of better housing, health and education. When it looked as if price rises and inflation were undermining living standards in 1957, a women's pressure group, calling itself the "Battling Housewives", built up remarkable momentum in Clydebank. Headed by Mary Sweeney and Emily Swankie, the object was to influence Government policy via the Scottish Office. Behind this was also mounting concern about growing unemployment and the impact of the 1957 Rent Act. The partial removal of rent controls revived 1920s fears about arbitrary increases by landlords. However, the women's protest over rents was ultimately less volatile in Clydebank, because of the expansion of the public rented sector.
These strong-willed, community-spirited women of the early and mid-20th century have served as role models for the heroines of two novels published in the 1990s, by Maggie Craig and Meg Henderson. Yet, as the following examples show, Clydebank women had, and continue to have, a diverse range of interests and occupations. Agnes Stewart made a breakthrough for equal rights when she became Singer's first forewoman in 1963. Grace Clark formed one of the great partnerships in the Scottish variety theatre with her husband, Colin Murray. Both Grace Grainger and Jenny Hyslop won public recognition for their work with people with disabilities. In 1978 Ada Younger became Clydebank's first Church of Scotland minister, serving the congregation at Radnor Park Parish Church. Jane Cross spent years in Malawi as a nurse, and died in 1996 at the remarkable age of 109.