Available onlineEarly life - family and education
(page 1 of 6)| Audio: | Happy childhood and music |
|---|---|
| Duration: | 00:01:00 |
| Date: | 1970 |
Jennie Lee was born Janet Lee on 3 November 1904 but was known throughout her life as Jennie. She was one of two children born to James Lee and Euphemia Greig (known as “Ma Lee”). Her brother Tommy was born two years later.
Jennie was born in Lochgelly, a small mining village in Fife, Scotland about 20 miles north of Edinburgh across the River Forth.
Some of the earliest items in the Jennie Lee Archive Collection are family photographs taken during the Edwardian era. The photograph on this page shows Jennie with her younger brother Tommy c.1915.
For a few years her parents ran a small theatre and hotel in Cowdenbeath (inherited from Jennie’s maternal grandmother) and as a young girl Jennie was immersed in the world of the theatre and its performers who stayed at the hotel where the Lee family also resided. Jennie was entranced, and retained a lifelong love of musical and theatrical performance.
In the two audio clips on this page Jennie talks about her happy childhood growing up in Cowdenbeath.
