Rachel Devine

)[2] She progressed from being a "shifter", whose job was to change the bobbins on the looms, to becoming a fully-fledged jute weaver in around 1892.

She returned in 1915 and actively encouraged union support for rent strikers in Dundee[5] following the Glasgow example.

This involved negotiations with the employers' Association of Jute Spinners and Manufacturers where she proved herself capable and forceful.

It was conducted by Harold Morris on behalf of the Home Secretary in response to a request, ultimately unsuccessful, from Dundee jute manufacturers to exempt them from a new law limiting the working week for under-16s to 44 hours.

Sime in 1940, Devine spoke about the progress made since 1914 in improving conditions for local mill workers.