Jean Roberts was born at 36 Avenue Road in
Springburn,
Glasgow on 20 December 1895 the daughter of Mary Nevin, and her husband Walter Weir (1867-1926), a railway engineer of Fulton & Weir. Her parents seem to have separated soon after (or perhaps slightly before) her birth, as her father then married Helen Granger, his cousin. The family then lived at Ravenslea, a villa in
Bearsden. She was raised in the
Springburn area of Glasgow. She was educated locally at the Albert School then the Whitehill School in
Dennistoun. She trained at Dundas Vale Teacher Training College. She then became a primary school teacher at Bishop Street School in the city centre. Roberts' political career began in 1929 when she successfully stood for the
Kingston ward on the
River Clyde. In 1933 Labour gained control of
Glasgow and she began being given various committee roles within the town council. In 1936 she was Senior Magistrate for Glasgow and in 1952 was City Treasurer. Becoming leader of the Labour Party in 1955, she was elected Lord Provost (or, technically, "Lady Provost") in 1960. This critical period of tenure involved much slum clearance in the city and she famously toured the
Gorbals district with Queen Elizabeth II in 1961, discussing redevelopment proposals and receiving much press coverage during this trip. The Queen created her a
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the
1962 Birthday Honours. Roberts was chair of the Scottish National Orchestra Society. From 1965 to 1972 she was Chair of the
Cumbernauld Development Corporation. ==Personal life and death==