Noreen Branson

Noreen Branson (16 May 1910 – 25 October 2003) was a communist activist, and historian of the Communist Party of Great Britain. She worked for the Labour Research Department from 1938, until her death, editing its magazine for 28 years.

She was daughter of Lord Alfred Browne, son of Henry Ulick Browne, fifth Marquess of Sligo, and she came out as a debutante. She married the artist Clive Branson, with whom she had a daughter, Rosa. Noreen and Clive joined the Independent Labour Party together, before transferring their allegiance to the Communist Party.

After the death of James Klugmann, Noreen Branson took over the authorship of the official History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, adding volumes for the years 1927–45 and 1945–51.

Works

• The British State (1958) as Katherine Hood, with Roger Simon as James Harvey
• Room At The Bottom: National Insurance in the Welfare State (1960) as Katherine Hood
• Britain In The Nineteen Thirties (1971) with Margot Heinemann
• Britain in the Nineteen Twenties (1977)
• Poplarism, 1919–1925: George Lansbury and the Councillors' Revolt (1979)
• History of the Communist Party of Great Britain 1927–1941 (1985)
• Labour-Communist Relations, 1920–51 (1990/1) pamphlets with Bill Moore
• History of the Communist Party in Britain 1941–1951 (1997)

External links

• Works by or about Noreen Branson in libraries (WorldCat catalog)