Biography of Joan Maynard

Scope and Content

An unpublished biography of Joan Maynard by Bob Wynn

Administrative / Biographical History

Vera Joan Maynard,was born 5 July 1921 into a farming family in North Yorkshire and became an activist in, and later vice-president of, the National Union of Agricultural Workers. She joined the Labour party in 1946 and served as a councillor on North Yorkshire County Council. She was Labour agent in Thirsk before she stood as Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside from 1974 to 1987.

She sat on the Labour Party's National Executive Council between 1972-1982 and 1983-1987. She was known as 'Stalin's Granny' due to her left-wing views and she chaired the left-wing Campaign Group. She campaigned for Irish unification, land nationalisation and the abolition of the tied cottage system. She died in Sewerby, North Yorkshire on 27 March 1998.

Access Information

Access will be granted to any accredited reader

Conditions Governing Use

Bob Wynn

Custodial History

Donated by Bob Wynn, London, August 1996

Related Material

Papers of Chris Mullin, MP [U DMU]

Papers of Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Lord Hattersley of Sparkbrook [U DRH]

Records of the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and Yorkshire Regional Council of the Labour Party [U DX222]

Bibliography

Jad Adams, ‘Maynard, (Vera) Joan (1921–1998)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/69553, accessed 2 May 2006]