THE community of Kilbarchan will come together this Saturday to honour one of the village’s most famous citizens.

A commemorative stone cairn will be unveiled in honour of pioneering community activist Mary Barbour who was born in the village in 1875.

Renfrewshire’s Provost Anne Hall will unveil the cairn in a ceremony at noon at New Street close to the spot where Mary was born and spent her childhood.

The ceremony will be attended by members of local organisations, Kilbarchan Community Council, Mary’s family, Glasgow City Council, and the Remember Mary Barbour group which has done so much to keep her memory alive.

Renfrewshire’s Provost Anne Hall said: “While Mary spent her adult life in Glasgow, people in Renfrewshire are rightly proud that her values and sense of community were formed first in Kilbarchan and then in Elderslie.

“Mary’s campaigning efforts left a lasting legacy for countless families and children down the years. I will be honoured to join with the community of Kilbarchan in unveiling a permanent memorial to show the lasting regard and affection she is held in here.”

The short service begins at noon and members of the public are welcome to come along.

The commemoration has been timed to coincide with one of Mary Barbour’s most famous political achievements – the Glasgow Rent Strike where she successfully led a campaign against unscrupulous landlords who were evicting the families of soldiers who were away fighting in World War I.

The campaign paved the way for the Rent Restrictions Act – a key piece of housing legislation in Scotland.

The cairn has been funded by a grant of £6000 from the Renfrewshire Citizens Fund following a recommendation from the council’s Johnstone and the Villages Local Area Committee.

Mary was born at 37 New Street Kilbarchan in 1875, the third of seven children to carpet weaver James Rough and Jane Gavin, and spent her childhood in the village before moving to Elderslie, and then to Govan, where she spent her adult life.

She became one of the most significant figures of the working class movement in the west of Scotland in the early part of the last century.