Scotland’s oldest woman and ex-provost’s wife dies
● ‘Active’ greatgreat-gran passes away at age of 109
Scotland’s oldest woman – a much-loved mother, gran, great-gran and great-greatgran – has died at the age of 109 at a Dalkeith care home.
Anne Lean, known as Annie, was born in the same year that Shackleton’s mission to the South Pole started and the Secret Service Bureau counter-espionage unit – now known as MI5 – was secretly established.
Born Anne Barrie Beattie at Fushiebridge in the Parish of Borthwick, the wife of the late Tommy, ex-provost of Dalkeith, came into the world at 5:45am on 3 November 1909. Anne was one of five with three brothers and a younger sister.
She spent most of her life in Midlothian – in Newtongrange, Temple and Dalkeith – with short periods in Fife, Musselburgh and Galashiels.
Her father, who spent many years at sea, returned to the area to work in the coal mines, but broke his back and had to wear a metal support for the rest of his life. Her mother, a midwife, delivered 92 babies during her career, proudly losing none.
There was also no electricity or sewage system in the village in Anne’s early life and water had to be drawn from a well on the pavement opposite her childhood home.
The family would move to the nearby village of Temple.
After leaving school, Anne took up a job as a “home help” for a doctor and his wife in Trinity. This was followed by a spell as a silver table maid with shipping company Salveson.
Later she worked at Saxone shoe shop on Princes Street and then R&W Forsyth on St Andrew Square.
In 1932, after courting for several years, she married garage mechanic Tommy Lean. The couple had three sons – Tom, the late Jim and John – and daughter Evelyn.
Tommy was elected to the council and followed his father – the town’s first Labour councillor – as provost and magistrate. Anne took an active role in political life.
Tom said of his mother at her birthday in November: “Mum was always out canvassing for Labour votes when elections were coming up. She was very active all her life and she was still driving until she was 90 when she was registered blind.”
The couple retired to Galashiels where they opened a bedand-breakfast. At the age of 74, Anne learned to swim and eventually completed a marathon over several days.
She died peacefully on 19 April at Archview Lodge in Dalkeith.