Aldermaston Marches 1958 - 1963
A SCRAPBOOK
Aldermaston Marches 1958-1963 - A Scrapbook
The scrapbook (scroll down to see) was compiled by Chris Holden from the everyday press coverage of the collected by him together with his sister Jean Merriton, while on the marches. The scrapbook was completed many years later and is dedicated to the memory of Jean.
Jean was chairperson of one of the London CND regional groups.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE SCRAPBOOK - Note: use symbols top right above book
to adjust the size & postion. the corners to turn pages & the mouse to scan pages.
Chris Holden (kneeling centre left) on the march in 1960. (a larger version of this page is in the scrapbook & on the 'About Chis Holden' -Click Here' link
Jean Merriton (right) with Harold Wilson (left) - British Prime Minister 1964-1970 & 1974 -1976.
Chris Holden (left) with Tony Ben, former MP (centre) at the Cenotaph in Whitehall,
London on 17th August 2009, reading out
the names of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001.
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During her time on the Greater London Council (GLC), Jean was chairman of its Covent Garden Committee, which played a role in planning the redevelopmrnt of the market area.
Jean Merriton 28 Sept 1928 -10 August 1985
From The Paddington Mercury - by Michael Towers, dated Friday, August 22, 1985 : -
" Mrs. JEAN Merriton, the Labour Church Street ward councillor who died in a Crete car crash, was one of five
counillors who saved the local party from oblivion in the late 60s.
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Mrs. Merriton, 57, had been a Westminster councillor since the1964 elections. But in 1968 the Labour faced
electorial extinction at the next local government elections because they had only won five seats in the whole
of Westminster.
However, Mrs. Merriton and her four Labour colleagues - George Lowe, Irene Bolton. Dr. Leonard Jacobs and
Kait Lucan - worked unstintingly round the borough to keep the party alive.
This work, plus a national swing against the Tory Government, meant a much healthier showing in the 1971 elections.
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Mrs. Merriton of Cunningham Place, St. John's Wood, died on holiday after her car went over a cliff. Two others
in the car - Reg Fryer, a former Westminster councillor, and and Crete resident Mrs. Jean Delaney - also died.
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Elected
The Church Street councillor became a politician because in 1963 when she was elected to the former St. Marylebone Council. A year later she won a seat on the newly formed Westminster Council.
She was Party Chairman for five years from 1973 and before that Chief Whip for two years. On top of all this work, she was Paddington GLC member untill 1977.
During this time on the GLC was chairman of its Covent Garden Committee. It played a key role in planning the redevelopment of the market area.
A graduate of the London School of Eonomics, her main interest on the council was in finance. When she died , she was a member many Council committees specialising in finance, such as the Financial Management and Personnel Sub-Committee.
Labour Leader Joe Hegarty said her work between 1968 and 1971: 'She was one of the only five Labour councillors and put up a magnificent show. It had a considerable influence in producing the 1971 results'
And he added: ' Obviously, I'm stunned. I think it's a great loss not only to the residents of Church Street whom she represeted so well for so long, but also the residents of Westminster....She was never so parochial she confined her interests and activities in a small area.
He thought she had played an important part in the 1970's persuading the then Labour Government to keep domestic rates down.
Recently she was arguing that so-called 'equallisation' (where richer borourghs like Westminster subsidize the poorer London boroughs) should be retained after the GLC abolition without any increase for domestic ratepayers.
Her work on the Covent Garden Committee helped protect the area from excessive office development. Her main concern was to enable residents to continue to live there.
Her death was 'a great loss to the party,' said Mr. Hegarty. She showed great attention to detail in everything she did.'
Westminster Deputy Leader David Weeks said: ' Throughout her career as councillor Merriton was a very valued member. Her death will be a great loss to the proceedings of the Council in future.' He would miss 'her wise councel' on financial matters.
Realist
Mrs Merriton gave an interview to this paper earlier this year. She was always a realist, describing herself as ' a politication not a welfare worker.'
She said local Labour politicians had played an important role in getting Council estates built on both former Paddington Goods Yard site (the Brunel) and the Marylebone one - the Lisson Green.
They had also got Westminster to write a non-discrimination clause into the general rule book before it became law.
Her funeral has been held in Crete. She died on August 10."
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