famous scottish women in history

[Glencoe]

I'm daughter of Glencoe and I'm doing a paper for my history class, and I was wondering if anybody would be able to help me. Thank you, Sarah

[jacobitedreamer]

Hi Sarah,

I don't know if I can really help you, maybe I shall look up some things for you...

Maybe you could mention Flora Mac Donald and Mary Queen of Scots, in more modern times Margaret Ewing got famous, as far as I know...

Women have always played a great role in history, but they seldom gained fame. They acted as donators of money, as spies, were hosts and supporters of famous men. Moreover, where would all the famous men have ended up without the support of their wifes!

If you need more help, let me know. Or is this already enough to put you on track for some research?

See you,

Franziska

How about Mary Slessor? She was a Victorian mill worker from Dundee (although born in Aberdeen) who became a missionary in Nigeria. Unlike some of her male contemporaries she never went in for exploration or colonising on behalf of the Crown, but stuck to ministering to her flock.

One of her particular interests was twins. In the culture of the society she worked in twins were regarded as evil and were usually killed at birth. Mary set about saving these twins and raising them as her adopted children.

You can read a lot more about her by searching on the internet. A good starting point would be http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/centlib/slessor/mary.htm

[Celyn]

LOL -= Mary Slessor was first name that came to mind too. Never mind - I'll come back with more.

[Celyn]

How about Elsie Inglis - pretty good at medicine etc, but never got a chance to vote, of course!

HUH



Famous Scots
- Elsie Inglis (1864-1917)

Elsie Inglis was born at Naini Tal hill station in India on 18 August 1824. She grew up in a Victorian, male-dominated society where women became wives and mothers and certainly did not embark on careers in medicine. But fortunately she was the daughter of enlightened parents (her father was in the Indian civil service) who believed that the education of a daughter was just as important as that of a son. Her parents also supported her to realise her ambition to become involved in medicine.
Elsie started her medical training at the revolutionary "Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women" which had been set up by Dr Sophie Jex Blake. After three years, she then studied under Sir William McEwen at Glasgow University. By 1892 she had qualified as a Licentiate of all three Scottish medical schools and went to work in London. She was appalled by the poor standard of care and lack of specialisation in the care of female patients - and decided to do something about it.

Back in Edinburgh in 1894, she set up a medical practice with another woman doctor and opened a maternity hospital and midwifery resource centre for the poor in Edinburgh High Street. This later became the Elsie Inglis Memorial Hospital. Elsie often waived the fees for medical services and paid for patients to convalesce at the seaside.

Elsie Inglis realised that improving the medical care of women also required political backing and in 1906 she founded the Scottish Women's Suffragette Federation. Shortly before her death (in 1917) women above the age of 30 were granted the vote - though Elsie herself never lived to exercise her voting rights.

But it was Elsie's efforts during the First World war which really brought her fame. Her Suffragette Federation organised medical teams to go to France, Serbia and Salonica as well as Russia. She went to Serbia herself where her efforts to improve hygiene reduced the typhus and other epidemics which had been raging there. In 1915 she was captured and then repatriated. She then set about organising funds for a hospital in Russia and went to work there late in 1916.

A recent collection of letters and diary extracts has been published about Elsie Inglis which shows that Elsie was not just a compassionate heroine but also a stern disciplinarian who struck fear into patients and medical staff. She reduced nursing sisters to despair with her quick temper and blind rages.

She worked long hours in appalling conditions but was forced to return home in October 1917, suffering from cancer. She died on 26 November 1917 in Newcastle and was buried in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh. Winston Churchill wrote that Inglis and her nurses "would shine in history".

from: http://www.rampantscotland.com/famous/blfaminglis.htm

[Celyn]

Winnie Ewing is probably more famous than Margaret Ewing:

from:http://www.alba.org.uk/meps/longestmeps.html



Dr Winnie Ewing, who was awarded the honorary title 'Conservator of the Scottish Privileges of Veere' by Parliamentary colleagues from the Netherlands with the express recognition of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, when she became the longest serving member of the European Parliament in 1996.
In May 1999 she became Mother of the Scottish Parliament when, as the oldest member, she reconvened the parliament which had been adjourned in 1707.

From the time of the Reformation in the 1540s Scots were strongly presbyterian. However their Kings persisted in trying to impose an episcopal form of protestantism on the Scots which led to almost 150 years of civil strife.

In 1637 King Charles I tried to introduce a new English-style Book of Common Prayer in Scotland. The first use of the new book was to be on the 23rd of July, when the Dean of St. Giles' in Edinburgh climbed to the pulpit to lead the service. Jenny Geddes, "the princess of the Tron Adventurers" (she earned her living by keeping places in queues for wealthy people who did not want to wait in line for hours for some event or other; they'd pay Jenny to wait for them) stood up at the back of the church and exclaimed "daur ye say a Mass in my lug?" and threw a stool at the Dean.

Jenny's stool sparked a riot which spread throughout the city and the length and breadth of the country, and eventually led to bloody revolution. The Book of Common Prayer was never used in Scotland.