MARY Carson, the women's editor of The Herald for more than 30 years,

died on Saturday at a nursing home in Helensburgh. She was 90.

Miss Carson came to the post of editor of Women's Topics in 1931, when

she broke new ground by choosing as her nom de plume the comparatively

believable ''Jean Kelvin''. Her predecessor had signed off ''Will o' the

Wisp'', and another Glasgow paper boasted a ''Madame Butterfly.''

After three decades of noting the changing position of women in

society, as well as the changing appearance of women's fashions, Miss

Carson's last Jean Kelvin column appeared on May 30 1962 when she

recalled the ''niggling restrictions on the grounds of sex'' which

characterised her early years as a journalist.

She said: ''As a champion of women in these matters I was charged with

feminism which, if it is as I consider it to be -- a concern for

justice, I accept.''

Born in Cardonald, Miss Carson was a graduate of Glasgow University

and an honorary president of the Glasgow Association of University

Women. During her professional life she lived in Bearsden, and after her

retirement, she served as publicity adviser for the Scottish Women's

Rural Institute. She had recently stayed in sheltered housing in

Partick.