Docherty, Mary (writer, political activist, and Communist)
Dates
- Existence: 1908 - 2000
Biography
Mary Docherty (1908-2000) was a writer, political activist and a lifelong member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Born in Cowdenbeath, she was educated at both the Socialist Sunday School and the Proletarian Sunday School. She was politically active from an early age, and joined domestic service at 14 years. She joined the Communist Party in 1926 and witnessed evictions and hunger marches during the General Strike and miners' lock-out that year, all of which drove her committment to the labour and Communist movements in her local area. She represented the Young Communist League (YCL) during a visit to the Soviet Union in 1929. She also worked closely with William Gallacher whilst he was an M.P. for West Fife (1935-1950), and was greatly influenced by another notable Communist activist, Bob Selkirk, a blacklisted miner who served on Cowdenbeath Town Council, who she worked with for a time and about whom she would later write a biography in 1996. Mary remained an active member of the Communist Party throughout her life, serving at intervals as secretary of her branch, leader of the Women's Group, and Fife Party Treasurer. She was an unsuccessful council candidate in 1952. Professionally, Mary worked in various roles over the years, including with Leith Hospital; Crombie Munitions Depot; and the Co-operative Society, amongst others, all of which is documented in her autobiography, 'A Miner's Lass', published in 1992. Her father, William Docherty, was a miner and occasional actor, and secretary of the Cowdenbeath Branch of the National Association of Theatrical Employees. [Source: Obituary, The Herald, 2 February 2000; Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, 2006.]