The Scotsman

TRIBUTE Violet Laidlaw

Secretary, union worker and Edinburgh University Court’s first non-teaching member

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Violet Laidlaw, who died on 3 March, aged 95, was a truly remarkable woman. Nowadays, her keen intelligen­ce, personal qualities and personalit­y would have taken her to the top of any graduate profession she chose to enter or to high office in public life, be it political or social.

Violet was born and brought up in the Dumbiedyke­s area of Edinburgh. After a career in legal offices, Violet joined the University of Edinburgh in 1966 as the department­al secretary in the very youthful Department of Sociology, foundedin1­964,andremaine­d there until she retired in 1983.

Her role both in the department and as a union person cannot be overestima­ted. She ran a great ship and kept the show, the students, the staff, and above all the Professor, Tom Burns, on the road. Not for nothing was she called, largely affectiona­tely, “The Dragon”.

Yet she was a good, discreet and compassion­ate listener and her advice and support helped many of her colleagues and students who were struggling or in difficulti­es. She saw herself, and her colleagues saw her, as a key member of the sociology team, and her commitment, enthusiasm and sense of humour played a major role in making the department a leader in the field, and a good place in which to work.

Violet was also very much a political animal. She knew how to make things happen, when to speak her mind – which she could do forcefully – when to persuade, and when to remain silent.

A lifelong socialist, she became an active member and secretary of the Secretary-typists Associatio­n when she joined the university. She was a stout champion of the rights of clerical staff when Gordon Brown was student rector between 197275. Subsequent­ly the secretaria­l staff were represente­d by Nalgo, the National Associatio­n of Local Government Officers and, almost inevitably, some people would say, Violet became secretary of the university branch from 1975 to 1978; served on the branch executive committee from 1978 to 1980 and also on Nalgo’s district universiti­es committee for four years.

She understood the importance of making the secretaria­l staff more of a force inside the university and was a founding member of the Non-teaching Staff Liaison Committee and the first representa­tive of that group on the university’s Constituti­on and Structure Committee.

In 1978, her political skills, her grasp of university affairs and the role of the university in the wider community led to her election to the University Court, the most senior governing body in the university. No member of the nonteachin­g staff had previously served on the Court, on which she sat until 1981.

In November 1984, at the graduation ceremony following her retirement, the university conferred on her the honorary degree of Master of Arts. Such is the esteem in which she is still held that the prize for the best performanc­e in Sociology Joint Honours carries Violet’s name. Violet remained very active almost to the end of her long life. She was 90 when she decided to withdraw from the advisory group of Edinburgh’s A City for All Ages. Its aims are to “enable involvemen­t of older people in developmen­t of Edinburgh plans and strategies, share informatio­n, and to encourage older people to take responsibi­lities in planning their own future”.

Those aims, if one removes the adjective “older”, in many ways encapsulat­e Violet’s activities throughout her life. If she had one regret, it was that she belonged to a pre-digital generation and missed the opportunit­y afforded by the internet, and e-mail in particular, to make mischief among the powerful.

She will be much missed and very fondly remembered by her many friends and acquaintan­ces, from the young children of her neighbours in whom she always took an abiding interest, to those somewhat nearer her own age. Just before her death, a neighbour and university colleague was explaining to her why university lecturers were striking about pensions. She managed to say very firmly: “And rightly so.”

In the words of this neighbour: “Her spirit was still there, a fighter for justice until the very end. What an incredible and kind person.” DAVID MCCRONE & FRANK BECHHOFER The Scotsman welcomes obituaries and appreciati­ons from contributo­rs as well as suggestion­s of possible obituary subjects. Please contact: Gazette Editor n The Scotsman, Level 7, Orchard Brae House, 30 Queensferr­y Road, Edinburgh EH4 2HS; n gazette@scotsman.com

“Her spirit was still there, a fighter for justice until the very end. What an incredible and kind person”

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