Patrick Dollan

Patrick Dollan

Sir Patrick Joseph Dollan (1885 – 30 January 1963)[1] and his wife, Agnes, Lady Dollan (née Moir; 1887 –16 July 1966)[2] were Glasgow activists in the Scottish Independent Labour Party. During the First World War they campaigned against the Munitions of War Act of 1915 which suspended trade unionists' rights for the duration of hostilities.

Early years

Born in Baillieston and raised Catholic, Dollan attended St Bridget's elementary school until he was ten years old. He later joined his father working as a miner at the Clydeside Colliery.

He married Agnes Moir in 1912. She was a staunch pacifist and suffragette during World War I.[2]

Activism

Patrick and Agnes Dollan were vocal in raising awareness of the plight of thousands of Glasgow tenants who were having their rents raised at a time when military conscription had reduced their earning potential. Government concern at the volatile situation in the city led to the Rent Restrictions Act of November 1915, freezing rents at pre-war levels.

In the 1920s he was the author of a booklet, The Clyde Rent War!, a narrative of the Glasgow rent strikes of 1915-16, which also contained proposals for housing policy reform. In 1939 he won the inaugural St Mungo Prize, which is awarded triannually to the person deemed to have done the most to promote and improve the city of Glasgow in the previous three years. At the beginning of World War II, Dollan encouraged his fellow Glaswegians to support the war effort against fascism, for which efforts he was knighted in 1941.[1][3]

Miscellanea

He served as Lord Provost of Glasgow from 1938-41.

The Dollan Baths in East Kilbride, Scotland's first Olympic-sized swimming pool, is named in his honour.

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Sir Patrick Dollan". The Times (London, England). 31 January 1963. p. 16.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Lady Dollan". The Times (London, England). 18 July 1963. p. 12.
  3. ↑ Profile of Sir Patrick Dollan