Died 1940 | ||
Margaret Hardinge Irwin (13 January 1858 – 23 January 1940) was a Scottish labour activist who held important posts in the trade union movement.
Irwin was born on the Lord Hardinge ship, from which she took her middle name. She grew up in Broughty Ferry in Forfarshire, then studied at the University of St Andrews, from which she received a "lady literate in arts" (LLA) degree, followed by attendance at the Glasgow School of Art and Queen Margaret College. She then became involved in the women's rights movement, and also bought and ran a fruit farm in Blairgowrie.
In 1891, Irwin became the full-time Scottish organiser of the Women's Protective and Provident League, then in 1895 became the secretary of the Scottish Council for Women's Trades (SCWT). In this role, she campaigned for the creation of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and, when it was created in 1897, she was elected as its first secretary. However, Robert Smillie became unhappy that she did not focus much attention on the campaign for an eight-hour day, and in 1900, Irwin decided not to stand for re-election. However, she remained secretary of the SCWT, and frequently served as its delegate to the STUC over the next decade.
By the 1920s, Irwin was focusing much of her time on the fruit farm, developing model housing for workers there. She was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1927. The SCWT dissolved in 1939, and Irwin died the following year.