Communist Party of Great Britain Biographical Project - Jack Ashton
TitleCommunist Party of Great Britain Biographical Project - Jack Ashton
ReferenceTAPE/596
Date
11/11/1999
Scope and ContentThis is a copy of a tape held by the British Library, in their Sound Archives, as part of their CPGB Biographical Project.
Details about the tape may be obtained from the British Library web site.
The following synopsis is based on the one on the British Library website. These tapes are quite difficult to hear in places.
Jack Ashton was born on 1st April 1924 in Leith near Edinburgh.
He was brought up as a Roman Catholic. His mother was a devout Catholic while his father was a “freethinker”. Jack broke with the Catholic Church when he was 14, “in revolt against the spiritual Gestapo”.
His mother was a strong trade unionist and led a strike to get trade union recognition. She instilled into him that he had to be a member of a trade union. His father (John) fought in the First World War where he had terrible experiences. He worked as a Plater and was in the Boilermakers’ Union.
Jack left school when he was 14 and first worked in a butcher’s shop for a short time, then went to work in the Leith shipyards, then was in the Commandos during the War. He landed in Sicily in 1943, and behind the lines in Yugoslavia later on.
Jack met a lot of old-timers who were in the socialist CP, and started reading economics etc. He went to the Edinburgh Labour College, “looking for answers”. He started to read the Daily Worker and then started to sell it himself. He joined the CPGB in 1947 because he was always a left winger and because of the economic situation. His brother Harry joined on the same day. His three other brothers also became members. Jack was a member until 1991 and held various positions in his local branch, area and district, and was also on the CPGB Executive Committee. He worked as a full time Party employee until he retired in 1989 (when he was 65).
Jack was an active member of the ASSET Trade Union (from 1955 to 1965), and was victimised after the strike. He later joined ASTMS (1965 to 1971).
He joined the Democratic Left in 1991.
Details about the tape may be obtained from the British Library web site.
The following synopsis is based on the one on the British Library website. These tapes are quite difficult to hear in places.
Jack Ashton was born on 1st April 1924 in Leith near Edinburgh.
He was brought up as a Roman Catholic. His mother was a devout Catholic while his father was a “freethinker”. Jack broke with the Catholic Church when he was 14, “in revolt against the spiritual Gestapo”.
His mother was a strong trade unionist and led a strike to get trade union recognition. She instilled into him that he had to be a member of a trade union. His father (John) fought in the First World War where he had terrible experiences. He worked as a Plater and was in the Boilermakers’ Union.
Jack left school when he was 14 and first worked in a butcher’s shop for a short time, then went to work in the Leith shipyards, then was in the Commandos during the War. He landed in Sicily in 1943, and behind the lines in Yugoslavia later on.
Jack met a lot of old-timers who were in the socialist CP, and started reading economics etc. He went to the Edinburgh Labour College, “looking for answers”. He started to read the Daily Worker and then started to sell it himself. He joined the CPGB in 1947 because he was always a left winger and because of the economic situation. His brother Harry joined on the same day. His three other brothers also became members. Jack was a member until 1991 and held various positions in his local branch, area and district, and was also on the CPGB Executive Committee. He worked as a full time Party employee until he retired in 1989 (when he was 65).
Jack was an active member of the ASSET Trade Union (from 1955 to 1965), and was victimised after the strike. He later joined ASTMS (1965 to 1971).
He joined the Democratic Left in 1991.
Extent2 Cassette tapes
Physical descriptionNWA copy
LanguageEnglish
Archival historyThe Communist Party of Great Britain Biographical Project, part-funded by the Economic and Social Research Council covers the full period of the party's existence (1920-1991) and deals with all aspects of its work including industrial work, educational and cultural activities as well as local and international campaigns. The audio recordings of more than 150 interviews with members and former members of the Communist Party of Great Britain, conducted between October 1999 and September 2001 by a group of historians based at Manchester University have now been deposited in the British Library Sound Archive.
Persons keywordAshton, Jack, Communist Party of Great Britain, British Library National Sound Archive
SubjectCommunism
Conditions governing accessOpen
Levelfile
Normal locationZ (Room 24)