Noreen Branson

Noreen Branson (16 May 1910 – 25 October 2003) was a communist activist, and historian of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Noreen Branson
Born(1910-05-16)16 May 1910
London, England
Died25 October 2003(2003-10-25) (aged 93)
OccupationHistorian, communist activist
ChildrenRosa Branson

Early life

Branson was born on 16 May 1910 in London. Both of her parents died during World War I and she was raised by her grandparents.[1] She joined The Bach Choir in 1929 and took part in a Charity Concert in the East End of London when she was 20 where she met her husband, painter and poet, Clive Branson.[2]

Activism and career

They joined the Independent Labour Party in 1931 when Clive began working for Morgan Jones but they left for the Communist Party in 1932.[1]

In 1934 she was asked by Harry Poillitt, the Communist party general secretary, to take money and documents to the Indian Communist Party in Bombay. She attended the 7th World Congress of the Communist International in Moscow and spent several months as a comintern messenger to underground parties in Europe without being caught.[2] She had become secretary of the Battersea communist branch by 1936.[1] Branson and her husband also protested against the fascist Oswald Mosley and his supporters.[2]

She began work as a researcher in 1938 when Clive went to fight in the Spanish Civil War. She first worked for Poillitt and then for the Labour Research Department. She provided information and advice to organisations including national trade unions and trade councils, specialising in questions on social service. She published her first article in the Labour Research Department magazine in September 1938 and continued to routinely contribute to the magazine for another 65 years.[2] She also edited the magazine for 25 years.[3]

When Clive died in February 1944 while fighting in Burma she published his letters as A British Soldier in India.[2]

After the death of James Klugmann, Noreen Branson took over the authorship of the official History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, adding volumes for the years 1927–41 and 1945–51.[4]

Branson died on 25 October 2003. She was survived by her daughter Rosa Branson who was born in 1933 and is a painter.[5]

Works
  • The British State (1958) as Katherine Hood, with Roger Simon as James Harvey[6]
  • Room At The Bottom: National Insurance in the Welfare State (1960) as Katherine Hood[2]
  • Britain In The Nineteen Thirties (1971) with Margot Heinemann ISBN 0586037578
  • Britain in the Nineteen Twenties (1977) ISBN 0297770098
  • Poplarism, 1919–1925: George Lansbury and the Councillors' Revolt (1979) ISBN 0853154341
  • History of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1927–1941 (1985) ISBN 0853156115
  • History of the Communist Party in Britain 1941–1951 (1997) ISBN 0853158622

References
  1. "Branson, Noreen (Oral history)". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  2. Morris, Margaret (10 November 2003). "Obituary: Noreen Branson". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  3. "Noreen Branson". The Times. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  4. Schneer, Jonathan (1999). "Review of The History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1941-1951": 136–138. JSTOR 27672609. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "Clive Branson 1907–1944". Tate. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  6. "Writings on the State - Communist Party of Great Britain archive from Microform Academic Publishers". www.communistpartyarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
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