The Town Council has installed a plaque at Redby Coffee Shop in recognition of the contribution which the renowned Johnny Rafferty made to the area. The building is the site of his premises, which he opened in the 1930’s as the unlicensed Unemployed Workers Movement Club, (later becoming the West Cumberland Social Clubs Ltd), at a time when Maryport’s level of unemployment ranged between 75% & 85%, & the unemployed could obtain cheap meals, play games such as darts, dominoes & cards all day, watch films & play bingo.
Johnny Rafferty arrived in jobs-beleaguered Maryport from Scotland in 1921, an itinerant Scottish beggar, with the town suffering during the depression years. It is hard to imagine the industrial landscape of Maryport prior to the 1930’s. Mining, shipbuilding, a busy railway, an iron foundry, the docks, fishing……….at one time the town must have echoed with the noise & bustle of activity. The collapse of industry in the early part of the 20th century impacted badly on Maryport. Conditions in Maryport in the early 1930’s were shocking, & unemployment peaked at 97%, with most people having no hope of finding any kind of work. Rafferty was involved in fighting against the means test, a harsh government financial check introduced in 1931 during the Great Depression, where officials inspected household incomes, forced families to sell personal belongings or use up savings, and denied or reduced the “dole” unemployment benefit if anyone in the home earned any money. He set up the National Union of Unemployed Workers in Maryport, organising hunger marches & helping fight for people’s rights. As a result, he had a huge local following & became a folk hero in the area.
In February 1935, when poverty was at its height, there was a delay in paying out two shillings, (10p), family coal allowance. Led by Rafferty, some 1,000 people gathered in Fleming Square outside the Maryport Relief Office, where Rafferty demanded a deputation. As tensions heightened, stones were thrown at the office & at the police. Later in the evening, Johnny Rafferty & James McCarron were arrested & charged with assaulting the police. The tension in Maryport was so strained that only one magistrate could be found to sit & remand them, that being Mr Thomas Carey, then 102 years old, of Curzon Street, Maryport. Mr Carey walked to the court, sat with his ear trumpet, & not unwisely, remanded the two men on bail. At the trial, the court found no evidence that Rafferty or McCarron had thrown a cobble or struck a policeman & they were acquitted, following which the men were carried around the town by cheering marchers, who numbered some 4,000.
A life-long member of the Communist Party, Johnny Rafferty was a man who firmly divided opinion; he had thousands of friends but also many enemies. He continued to support the poor & needy throughout his lifetime & over the 50 years from his arrival until his death in 1971, he put his indelible stamp on the community.
Further information on Johnny Rafferty’s contribution to the area can be found on the Town Council’s website through the following link:
https://www.maryporttowncouncil.gov.uk/local-attractions/johnny-rafferty/