Born in Cupar in 1885, Mary Katherine Dorothy Douglas MB, Ch.B., OBE was to become St Andrews first female G.P. having qualified at Edinburgh University in 1924. At that time her father was a G.P. in Cupar having taken over his father's practice which had been established in 1840. Just three years after qualifying Dr Dorothy, as she was known in order that people could distinguish between Drs Douglas - junior and senior, set up her own practice in St Andrews.
No doubt the profession of her father and grandfather was influential in Dorothy's choice of occupation. Unfortunately it has not been possible to discover anything about her mother beyond the fact that typically, she herself did not have a profession. Indeed it would have been unseemly to do so. Consequently, like so many middle class women of that era she has become invisible to the historian.
Dorothy was given a good start in life being privately educated in Cupar and then Germany. Though her first love was music (she was an excellent organist and pianist) Dorothy was also drawn to medicine. During the First World War, at the age of 29 years, she became the Commandant of Cupar Detachment of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) at Ceres and took charge of the hospital there. It was for her services associated with the British Red Cross that she received several medals during the First World War. It was following this war work that she began to study for her medical degree. While a student she gained additional experience by working closely with her father.
Although known as a very competent doctor in her own right, her father's good reputation in the profession may have helped in Dorothy's initial acceptance within the community of St Andrews. In spite of the fact that she was the town's first female medical doctor there is no evidence to suggest that any form of rivalry or resentment was felt or expressed by the established male medical profession. At this time Dorothy lived and work in her premises at 5 St Marys Place, now a guest house.
During her time in St Andrews Dorothy made such a success of her pioneering' role in the town that she was elected to be the first female President of the Fife branch of the BMA.
Small in stature as she was, she has to this day a reputation of having been a rather forceful character. As one interviewee said to me "Dorothy was a small woman physically, but a big woman mentally". Seemingly she was daunted by little, if anything at all, as the recollection of one of her calls suggests. Dorothy was called out to a farming accident in Fife (possibly during the Second World War). The patient was so badly injured, having been trapped in some agricultural machinery, that Dorothy amputated his leg there and then, using her father's surgical knife, which had served him during the First World War. As the interviewee pointed out, it is interesting to consider that though St Andrews had many male G.P.s. at the time, it was Dr Dorothy who was called to this particular incident.
Although concerned with the welfare and health of all sectors of the community Dr Dorothy was seemingly somewhat suspicious of the new NHS, advising younger doctors not to "... let the NHS come between you and your patients." She believed that no other profession could compare with medicine, not least because it presented an opportunity for friendship with all classes of the community. Medicine was a dedication and vocation for Dorothy. It had been influenced not only by the long established family tradition, but had also been "governed always by the strictest professional integrity and as her whole life, by religious discipline." (The Citizen, 11.5.1957.)
Apart from her professional work in medicine, Dorothy was also an active member of the East Fife Unionist and Liberal Association for many years. She was honoured for her commitment to public and political life in Fife in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 1957, being awarded the OBE. This was the same year in which she retired from the medical profession and so it was a fitting reward for her long years of dedication to the community. Following her retirement her public spirit continued to thrive and was expressed by her service on the town council for a period of two terms.
Dorothy was a dedicated Christian and worshipped at All Saints in the Ladyhead area of St Andrews. She was very much involved in the activities of the church, as choir-mistress, organist and parishioner.
Like others in St Andrews Dorothy, too, was aware of a passing way of life and the potential loss of its tangible evidence. With this in mind, following her retirement Dorothy bought and renovated a North Street property, following the example of others who were gradually moving into the former fishing quarter of St Andrews. Though this process preserved these traditional dwellings, gentrification of these former working class houses inevitably took place and today the area attracts the professional classes.
Dr Dorothy is remembered in the town as a capable woman and a very good doctor, with a commanding personality: a necessary trait in order to succeed in what was a male dominated profession. Her good friend, Caroline Ketelbey said of her that she always
... subordinated herself to her patients and their welfare. Essentially a good person, she had a personality of marked characteristics and distinctive and distinguished talents. She was as straight as a die, she knew her own mind and she never hesitated to express it. She was the most generous of friends and the staunchest of allies: when her friendship was once given it never stopped and never failed. (The Citizen, 11.5.1957.)
Mary Katherine Dorothy Douglas died in 1964 at the age of 79. Never having married she left no children, instead she left behind her a strong, well respected memory in the minds of many of St Andrews residents.
Article by: Susan Keracher