A visit to the Fisheries & Community museum at Lossiemouth harbour, north east Scotland was a revelation – due to the content and the concept.
A genuine community museum, free from national institutional demands, run entirely by volunteers, one of whom walked by my side from room to room to ensure I didn’t miss the good bits. He showed me a photograph of an Australian member of Parliament for Cook in NSW by the name of John Smith (Jock) Garden, who went to school in Lossiemouth and migrated to Australia in 1904.
Reportedly a fundamental christian he was politically active in the Socialist Party and a founding member of the Australian Communist Party in 1920.
In June 1928 he was charged with ‘incitement to murder’ after a rousing speech promoting radical tactics during a maritime strike.
