Finding Peggy: A Glasgow Childhood

Meg Henderson grew up in Glasgow in the fifties and sixties as part of a large and often troubled family. The tenement block in which they lived suffered a major collapse and they were moved to the notorious Blackhill district, where religious sectarianism, gang warfare and struggles with hostile bureaucrats were part of daily life. Meg was born into a mixed-religion family, where there was warmth and laughter as well as conflict. Her mother, Nan, and her mother’s sister, Peggy, were two idealistic women who took on the troubles of the world. Together they shaped Meg’s life, shielded her from the effects of her father’s heavy drinking and helped her to move on, eventually, from the slums of Glasgow. Peggy searched for a husband until late in her life and then endured a harsh, unhappy marriage until she died tragically in childbirth. Her death devstated the family and destroyed Meg’s childhood, but it was only as an adult that Meg was able to uncover the shocking facts behind Peggy’s untimely demise.