Excerpt from poem by Mary Brooksbank Copyright © University of Dundee Archives, 2008 Select A Story... Agnes Husband Mariote Ker An Anonymous Maidservant Frances Wright Margaret Fenwick Alice Moorhead and Emily Thomson Mary Ann Baxter Williamina Fleming Lila Clunas Margaret Fairlie Rebecca Strong Jean Thomson Mary Alcock Victoria Drummond Katharine Read Florence Horsbrugh Mary Lily Walker Mary Brooksbank Mary Slessor Mary Buick (or Buik) Bella Keyzer Ethel Moorhead Grissell Jaffray Janet Keiller Emma Caird Mary Brooksbank | Footstep 18 | 1897 - 1978 "I have never had any personal ambitions. I have but one: to make my contribution to destroy the capitalist system." So said Mary Brooksbank, mother of seven, mill-worker and life-long socialist and Communist, several times imprisoned for her campaigning activities. Born in an Aberdeen slum, the oldest of five children, Mary came to Dundee when she was eight or nine years old and began work in the mills - illegally - at the age of 12. At 14, she had her first taste of what could be achieved by standing up to the bosses - the girls marched and won a 15% pay rise. At 21, she rejected Roman Catholicism, became an atheist and was inspired by 'Red' John McLean to join the Communist Party to fight for women's rights and equality, as well as the demise of capitalism itself. She was also a musician and poet whose songs are still sung today. Although she never worked at Baxter's Mill, now Weavers Yard, King Street, where you will see her plaque, she wrote one of her most famous songs about a mill girl's life set there. Click here to see an excerpt from 'A Dundee Lassie' Previous Story  |  Next Story
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