Jameson, Mary

Mary Jamieson nee Ellwood, daughter of Johnson Ellwood.

Clog dancer from Chester-le-Street, Co. Durham.  After Johnson’s death she became the major source of information on her father’s steps.

She competed in the revived Northumberland and Durham Championships at Hexham in 1949 and on other occasions, and in the Four Northern Counties Championships after they commenced in 1953, winning the championship belt in 1953, 1954 and 1955.

She assisted her father in teaching in his later years, often running classes every evening of the week in one location or another as well as running charity concerts at which the pupils performed.  The classes were effectively exclusively for children although many kept dancing into their teens or even longer.

In later years she was a regular tutor for the clog dance classes at the Durham Folk Festival.

Photo of Durham competition winners 1976
Mary Jamieson, 2nd right, with her father, at left and the winners of the 1976 Ellwood Cup.