Janey Buchan (1926-2012) spent most of her life engaged in the struggle for social justice for all; she tirelessly supported a host of campaigns and causes. Her formal career in politics include serving as a Councillor on Strathclyde Regional Council from 1974 to 1979, and as a Scottish Labour Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1994. Janey had a great passion for the arts and for culture in all its forms, especially for music and song. Janey was married to Norman Buchan in 1946. Norman served as Labour Member of Parliament from 1964 until his death in 1990, first for West Renfrewshire, and then for Paisley South.

I first met Janey in 1994 whilst working at Glasgow Caledonian University when she deposited a large collection of material to establish the Norman and Janey Buchan Collection. Janey’s love of song and her deep involvement in politics made almost inevitable the establishing in 2001 of the Centre for Political Song, and working on managing and developing the Centre with Janey’s help and dedication was a very special part of my work as Research Collections Manager.

Following my early retirement in 2010 Janey Buchan withdrew all her materials previously held by the Centre for Political Song at Glasgow Caledonian University, together with selected items of relevance from the Norman and Janey Buchan Collection, and deposited them with Giving Voice Workshops. Janey’s deposit includes a diverse range of media forms – songsheets and manuscript materials, pamphlets, books, serials, cards and posters, as well as “78s”, cassette tapes, vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, and videos, all of which will eventually be fully detailed in lists made available on this website.

Janey was a great support to Giving Voice Workshops, and I value enormously her enthusiasm, knowledge, and encouragement.

Return to main Collections page.
Return to the Janey Buchan Materials main page.
Pages within the Janey Buchan Materials collections: Finding Aid | Janey Buchan and Political Song | Songsheets & Songbooks | Long Play Vinyl Records | Left Book Club Theatre Guild