Caroline Martyn Commemoration

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On Monday afternoon I was pleased to attend a commemoration and rededication of the grave of Caroline Martyn. Caroline Martyn was a Christian Socialist, trade unionist, and promoter of co-operation who lived between 1867 and 1896. She was born in Lincoln but died aged just 29 years in Dundee and had been taken ill during a speaking tour organised to help recruit women jute workers into the Dundee Textile Workers' Union. Keir Hardie wrote that she was the leading socialist of her day, with 'a power of intellect and moral-force' that was unmatched. Caroline Martyn's grave is in Balgay Cemetery.

The event today was organised by Dundee Trades' Union Council, well done to them for all that they do to promote trade unions in the city and also to preserve the city's trade union history. The pictures here show Mike Arnott from the Trades' Council and also Caroline Martyn's great-niece Viv Flowers speaking at today's event; and also a couple of pictures of Caroline's gravestone which was erected by her 'socialist comrades and Dundee Textile Workers Union.'

I am always interested in events such as this. I am a supporter of many of the causes which Caroline Martyn (Christian Socialism, Trade Unionism and Co-operation) promoted and it is interesting to see what she was saying about these issues in the nineteenth century and look at how we can promote these causes in the twenty-first century.

The Lord Provost laid a wreath on behalf of the city and it is always good to see the city remember its trade union and labour history.