GRAY, Mary (1854-1941)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 2665 GRAY
Held at	: Socialist Party of Great Britain   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/ ›
Full title	: GRAY, Mary (1854-1941)
Date(s)	: 1854-1935
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 1 file
Name of creator(s)	: GRAY | Mary | nee Rogers | 1854-1941

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Mary Rogers, was born on 11 Jan 1854, near Wokingham, Berkshire, the daughter of John Rogers and his wife Elizabeth Alnut. In 1876, she married Willie Gray, a stonemason. She joined the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) in 1890, and is credited with founding the first Socialist Sunday School at Battersea. Her daughter Florence Gray, was born 1879.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Personal papers of Mary Gray, nee Rogers, comprising:

birth certificate, 11 Jan 1854; marriage certificate, 16 Sep 1876; membership card of Social Democratic Federation, Mar 1890-1891; membership card for International Socialist and Trade Union Congress, 1896;

printed copy of resolutions including one relating to the action of Dr Blandford in certifying Edith Lanchester, (undated); agenda, and programme and rules of the SDF 12th Annual Conference, 1892; Programme and Rules of the Social Democratic Federation, 1892;

printed notices for a public meeting concerning votes for women, 1892; SDF London School Board Election, Nov 1894, West Lambeth Division; International Socialist Workers and Trade Union Congress London, SDF demonstration, 1896;

papers relating to Gray as a speaker including printed notice of SDF meeting of the Coventry Branch, advertising Gray on `Socialism, the only hope of the worker' and `The economic position of women' [1896]; news cutting reporting Gray's speech at the SDF Ilkeston Branch, 1897;

invitations for various events including one from Emmeline Pankhurst, 1892; a Mayoral reception, Leicester, 1899; meeting with Louis Botha, and De Le Rey and Mr Schalk Burger of South Africa, 1902;

miscellaneous receipts, 1895, 1998; ticket to Women's suffrage public meeting, Piccadilly 1893; typescript poem `to my grand daughter Olive, on her first birthday', 1903; manuscript music for the alto part of the 'Song of the Lower Classes';

letters to Gray, 1891-1899 from family members, as well as Herbert Burrows, 1893, Charles Heneags, 1896, Eleanor Marx Aveling, 1896, 1898, Duncan Milligan, H Percy Thompson, 1897, and H C Phillips, 1899;

material relating to Socialist Sunday Schools including a letter from National Council of British Socialist Sunday Schools, 1935; three photographs, including the Brixton Socialist Sunday School, and unidentified scene and group of people; The Socialist Sunday School Hymn Book, 1910; manuscript report of Battersea Socialist Sunday School, Sydney Hall, Nov 1892; Cutting from The New Leader relating to Socialist Sunday Schools, 1932;

and photocopies of articles from journals, 1895 and related news papers.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

By appointment only. Contact the Socialist Party of Great Britain, 52 Clapham High St, London SW4 7UN. Tel 020 7622 3811.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Photocopies available.

Finding aids:

Handlist

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Donated by Mrs Alice Whelan, Harwich, via Mr A Buick, a member of the Socialist Party.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Sources: Historical Manuscripts Commission's On-Line National Register of Archives; 'Mary Gray and Eleanor Marx' by A L Buick, Socialist Standard, July 1999.
Compiled by Alison Field as part of the London Signpost Survey Project

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
September 2003