Lila Clunas

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Lila Clunas
Photo of Lila Clunas.jpg
Born
Maggie Eliza Clunas

(1876-08-10)10 August 1876
Glasgow, Scotland
Died29 December 1968(1968-12-29) (aged 92)
Dundee, Scotland
NationalityScottish
Alma materMoray House School of Education
Known forScottish suffragette and Labour Party councillor

Lila Clunas (born Maggie Eliza Clunas 10 August 1876 – 29 December 1968)[1] was a Scottish suffragette and Labour party councillor.

Biography[]

Lila Clunas was born in Glasgow on 10 August 1876,[2] to parents Elsie Melvin and Hugh Clunas, a dress shop owner.[1] Her sisters were Jessie and Elsie.[3] She was schooled at Bell Baxter High School, Cupar, and completed her teacher training in Moray House Teacher Training College, Edinburgh.[1] She then moved to Dundee where she taught at the Brown Street Elementary Public School.[1][4] In later life, she lived with her sister Elsie in Broughty Ferry.[1]

Political career[]

In 1906, she joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). The following year, she joined the Women's Freedom League (WFL), serving as the secretary of the Dundee branch between 1908 –1912.[1] Her sisters Elsie and Jessie were also members of the WFL, with Elsie serving as treasurer until 1913.[3] She was succeeded as secretary by Helen Wilkie.

Her political activities included deputations, heckling and writing in the press. In 1908 she was expelled from an election meeting for Winston Churchill.[1] In 1909, she was a member of a 9-woman delegation to the House of Commons. During a WSPU deputation at the end of June, she was arrested while presenting a petition to Prime Minister Asquith,[3] although it has been suggested that she attempted to take a swipe at him.[5] She was charged with obstruction and was sentenced to three weeks in prison.[1] She was imprisoned in the London Holloway Prison, and was the first Dundee suffragette to be held there.[6] She went on hunger strike, and was released early, "on consideration of all the circumstances and as an act of clemency".[3]

In 1914 she was ejected from a Ramsay MacDonald meeting, and this led to a split between the suffragettes and the Dundee Labour Party.[1]

In 1943 she was elected as a Labour Party Councillor in the Dundee City Council, and served until 1964.[1] She had a particular interest in education.[3]

Clunas died 29 December 1968 in Dundee.[2]

Memorials[]

In 2008, the building that was Brown Street Elementary School was marked with a commemoration plaque in Clunas's honour.[7]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j The biographical dictionary of Scottish women : from the earliest times to 2004. Ewan, Elizabeth., Innes, Sue., Reynolds, Sian. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 2006. ISBN 0748626603. OCLC 367680960.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ^ a b Ewan, Elizabeth L.; Innes, Sue; Reynolds, Sian; Pipes, Rose (2007). Biographical Dictionary of ScottishWomen. Edinburgh University Press. p. 77. ISBN 9780748626601.
  3. ^ a b c d e Crawford, Elizabeth (2003). The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN 1135434026.
  4. ^ "Lila Clunas | Mapping Memorials to Women in Scotland". womenofscotland.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  5. ^ "Lila Clunas | Dundee Women's Trail". www.dundeewomenstrail.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  6. ^ "Bored of Burns & weary of Wallace? Meet Scotland's feminist fighters". CommonSpace. 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  7. ^ "Plaque to Lila Clunas | Mapping Memorials to Women in Scotland". womenofscotland.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
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