Obituaries Australia

Winifred Keesing was born in London on February 13, 1908 and died on March 18 in Sydney. She was a person of unswerving loyalty to the ideas and people she embraced or loved. To Win, socialism embodied the ideals of a just and peaceful world, social equality and the assurance of emancipation for women.

In the 1920s she joined the then radical British Labor Party, and later switched to the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) because of its greater militancy. She began a lifelong pattern of providing secretarial and organisational backup to the causes she supported, such as the Industrial Aid to Spain committee.

She was also active in the rank and file group of the Women's Clerks Union.

Her brother Bert urged her to come to Australia where she soon joined the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) and for a while held dual membership in the CPA and the State Labor Party of NSW, for which she worked for a number of years.

One of her most rewarding times was working for the Ironworkers Association with its secretary, Ernie Thornton, who maximised the organisational and political talent that Win and her friend Betty Lahiff displayed.

She married Ted Walsham, who was already her close friend and comrade, in 1943 and they remained married until he died in 1969. Win's wartime life was one of intense work, as it was for most women. Besides the Ironworkers job, Win also worked with leading communists like Phyllis Johnson and Mary Wright in the CPA Women's Committee.

In the war, Win was also a leader of the Sydney CPA and its North Shore District. The North Sydney Branch alone had over 100 members. This demanding work continued for many years, but Win also joined the Union of Australian Women in the 50s when the CPA asked women to do so. She was later the assistant national secretary of the UAW.

In 1981 she said that the early elements of feminism in the communist movement and elsewhere had been squashed before the advent of the women's liberation movement, and that one of the most thrilling experiences of her life had been to see the rebirth of the women's movement.

After decades of staunch support for the Soviet Union Win, and eventually Ted, supported the CPA's objection to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Win welcomed the CPA's new emphasis on democratic socialism in the early 70s, its emphasis on workers' control and particularly its growing awareness of the need for women's liberation. While too sick to take part in the CPA's debates about its own role, she supported the decision to help build the New Left Party.

Above all Win was modest and never concerned for position, she gave unstintingly in her help and encouragement to younger people, especially young women.

In October last year, her friends and comrades Kit and Harry Borowich organised a warm and friendly gathering in their home where many of us were able to tell Win of our appreciation for her work and life.