Librarian wins legal battle for possession of last Communist MP’s papers

Audrey Canning, 79, has run the Willie Gallacher Memorial Library for nearly four decades.

Mr Gallacher was a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and sat for two terms as an MP in the House of Commons.

After he died in 1965 his collection of over 2,000 books, photographs, pamphlets as well as other documents on left-wing politics and working class history in Scotland was donated to the CPGB by his family.

Mrs Canning has been the voluntary librarian of the collection since 1979, which has been based in Glasgow Caledonian University since 1997.

But two years ago a group called Democratic Left Scotland claimed ownership of the library as it was the successor to the CPGB, which dissolved in 1991.

However, at Glasgow Sheriff Court, Sheriff Stuart Reid ruled that neither party can claim ownership but that Mrs Canning ought to be the custodian.

He said: “In these proceedings neither the pursuer nor the defender has established that the library belongs to them.

“In my judgment, while the pursuer has failed to prove ownership, she has established a lesser right as depositary to the custody, control and management of the fund.

“She discharged her custodial duties with distinction for over 25 years.

“On her own initiative, she identified a sanctuary for the library within the STUC premises; with her own hands, she packed, flitted and then reassembled the entire collection there; a decade later, she repeated the exercise, securing refuge for the library within GCU; and throughout the entire period since taking custody she has been the constant guard and keeper of the collection for no financial reward.

“I would observe that how the pursuer chooses to exercise her rights as depositary, within the confines of her implied legal obligations, is a matter for her judgment.

“For example, she may choose to reach an agreement with GCU for the continued safe housing of the library within the University’s special collections department, or she may choose to relocate the library to an alternative sanctuary.”

The library has been closed to the public since 2013.

Mr Gallacher fought British participation in the First World War and was jailed in 1916 for criticising the war.

He stood for election as a Communist Party MP in Dundee in 1920 but would not succeed until 25 years later when he was elected MP for East Fife – a position he held until being defeated in 1950.