WE don’t know their names, mostly, but we have seen their faces.
The windae-hinger, the washerwoman, the workers who kept the factories going during the war.
Strong women make Glasgow, from the suffragettes who struggled for equality to the mothers keeping each other sane in the steamies and the grannies keeping an eye on the community from their tenement closes.
Reader Don McDonald, who grew up in Govanhill and now lives in Ontario, Canada, got in touch with Times Past recently with a fascinating story about an impressive woman from his own family’s past faced with what would be an unimaginable situation today.
“My sister-in-law was researching the family tree and found an interesting tale,” he told us. “I’m sure it played out the same for many people at the time.
“My wife’s grandmother worked for the local baker where she lived in Helensburgh, and she was on her own with five children.
“We don’t know what the details were, haven’t managed to find out exactly what happened, but we figure her husband died in the First World War.
“There was no ‘women’s lib’ in those days, no welfare cheques, so she went to her parish priest for help, and he arranged a marriage for her to a Canadian man in Hamilton Ontario.
“Can you imagine? But off she went.
“And it did seem to work out fine, as she went on to have five more children with her new husband, a brood of 10. “
Don explains: “Back then, Hamilton, Ontario was similar to Hamilton in South Lanarkshire, a gritty steelworkers’ town.”
The Canadian town has long been associated with immigration from Scotland and has strong ties to Glasgow and Lanarkshire.
“The couple bought a house, back and front garden, and were quite progressive as this was an era when you rented if you were working class.,” explains Don.
“When her husband died, he left her the house.
“None of the children in the family remember any trouble, so the marriage, unusual as it was, seemed to have worked out.”
He adds: “I would imagine though, for every one that worked, there would have been many which did not.”
Don added: “The strength of character displayed here, the duty to choosing the ‘best worst’ option for the good of her children, is quite something.
“Had she not taken this option, perhaps the kids would have been taken into care.
“She was a superwoman, just getting on with life, and life was what you made it.”
READ MORE: 'I've met my heroes' - Glasgow theatre workers starry walk down memory lane
Does this story ring any bells with you?
Have you similar family stories to tell?
Get in touch with Times Past to share your memories and photographs. You can email ann.fotheringham@glasgowtimes.co.uk or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow East Investment Park, Glasgow G32 8FG.
We have an I Grew Up in Glasgow column too, which is the perfect place for sharing your tales of a childhood in the city, the shops you loved and the cinemas and dance halls where you spent your leisure time.
Many readers have got in touch to help us paint a picture of life in Glasgow through the decades.
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Just search for Glasgow Times History or click on the link at the bottom of the article.
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