Mary Lily Walker was an extraordinary social reformer and chronicler, known to some as “Dundee’s forgotten heroine”. She stands out in Scottish history for her accomplishments and contributions to bettering her hometown.
So, who was she?
The Beginnings of a Legacy
Walker was born on 5 July 1863 in Dundee to Thomas Walker, a respected solicitor, and Mary Allen, her namesake.
There aren’t many records of her childhood, but we do know that her father died when she was young, leaving Walker as her mother’s sole carer.
152 Perth Road, Dundee is where Mary Lily Walker was born
This responsibility put Walker’s education on hold but after her mother died in 1883, Walker quickly returned to her studies.
Not only was Walker a flourishing student; she was also a trailblazer! Taking classes in Latin, Mathematics, Biology, and Chemistry, she was one of the first women to attend University College Dundee, smashing through Victorian-era gender barriers.
Whilst at university, she became conscious of the terrible conditions facing the city’s poor and joined the Dundee Social Union (DSU), an organisation her professors formed in 1888.
© University of Dundee – Archive Services. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk
The Journey to Social Reform
Initially, the DSU was staffed by volunteers and focussed on the city’s housing problems. It sent rent collectors to properties to build trust with tenants, arrange repairs, and give advice on property management.
This method was first used by Octavia Hill in London. Once Walker had completed her studies in 1893, she (now the DSU’s superintendent of housing) travelled there to work under Hill who then offered her a permanent job.
Most would have jumped at the opportunity – Hill was a big name and a true pioneer of social welfare – but not Walker. Imbued with a sense of responsibility to the people of Dundee, she returned to the city and helped get women into work in the textile industry.
Mary Lily Walker addresses the DSU
Set on improving conditions, she addressed the DSU in 1896:
“It [the DSU] is an attempt to set forth in quiet action the conviction…that this busy town of Dundee does not consist of a mass of individual units, each at war with his neighbour, but of a large community…to whom each member has duties and responsibilities.”
Two years later, Walker travelled to London once again. This time, she stayed with the Grey Ladies, a Church of England religious order, at their settlement house for a year where she trained in social work and observed the benefits of having a core team of paid workers.
© Dundee City Archives. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk
In these pages (pictured) from the 1905 DSU report, an analysis of the wage breakdown of workers in mills and factories is undertaken.
It shows that the average wage for men’s work was “under 15s. in 5 processes, under £1 in 8 processes and £1 or over in 5 processes”. Women’s wages were below 12s. in 8 processes and above 12s. but below 18s. in the other 5 processes.
Walker held the view that women going out to work helped to depress wages.
Leading the Way
If Walker hadn’t already been an influential character in the DSU, she certainly was when she returned in May 1899! She quickly got to work, growing the DSU’s membership by holding public lectures and expanding its focus beyond housing to maternal and child welfare.
Remembering what she had learned when Walker decided to establish a settlement house in Dundee, she appealed to the DSU to fund salaries for two workers. The DSU agreed and within a few years, Grey Lodge Settlement House was successfully training people in social work, with Walker as its warden.
Relentless in her pursuit of improving the city, one of her biggest accomplishments was co-authoring the 1905 DSU “Report on Housing and Industrial Conditions and Medical Inspection of School Children”.
With descriptions of unsanitary housing, poorly nourished children, high infant mortality, and severely overworked women, the report exposed the extent of the city’s appalling conditions.
The report had a transformative impact. It led to the establishment of restaurants for nursing mothers and baby clinics, and the city council began making changes in healthcare. Nationally, it was even recognised in the House of Commons and helped change attitudes towards poverty.
Beyond the DSU
Somehow, alongside her DSU work, Walker found time to take on even more roles!
In 1901, she was elected as a parish councillor; from 1905, she served as chairwoman of the Dundee Distress Committee, helping with poor relief; and, in 1907, she was one of the Scottish witnesses to the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws.
Lasting Legacy
Although she might not be a household name today, Walker’s legacy lives on.
On 5 July 2016, we unveiled a to commemorate Mary Lily Walker’s life as a social reformer and chronicler, marking the place in Dundee where her extraordinary story began 153 years earlier.
As Scotland’s leading lady of social reform, her work greatly improved the health and wellbeing of Dundee’s women and children, and Grey Lodge Settlement House continues to provide opportunities for young people.
Want to learn more?
Explore the Dundee Women’s Trail to discover more of Dundee’s pioneering women or learn about the achievements of the women who shaped Scotland in our online exhibition
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