Lunchtime Talk: Forgotten Heroines: Lady Haig, the Scottish Poppy and supporting disabled vetrans

Talk by Dr Natasha Danilova, Senior Lecturer, University of Aberdeen

Who created the Scottish remembrance poppy and why? In the aftermath of the First World War, what role did women play in facilitating support for veterans with disabilities. Lady Haig was a passionate woman who had advocated for the expansion of support of disabled veterans in Scotland. But it also a story of the upper-class, highly educated woman, a daughter of the diplomat, a Maid of Honour to Queen Alexandra and a wife of Field-Marshall Douglas Haig, whose exceptional, privileged position in the society proved to be not enough to overcome gender stereotypes and prejudice, and whose life-time work remains mostly written off from the pages of Scottish history. This talk results from the research project supported by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. It brings forth findings from the previously unknown archival personal records, held at the National Library of Scotland, conversations with Lady Haig’s family members, visits to the Lady Haig Poppy Factory in Edinburgh, National Museum of Scotland, and The Royal British Legion (Scotland).