Orkney Women Doctors Project (1894 to 1948)

  Dr Prudence Gaffikin was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1874.[1] She began working on Papa Westray (Papay) in 1901 at the age of 27, just a few months after qualifying from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1900.[2] The Papa Westray Parish Minutes of 10 April 1901 note an application from Dr Gaffikin for the post of Medical Officer and Public Vaccinator. The Council agreed to appoint her from 5 May 1901. Dr Gaffikin subsequently resigned (letter of 2 July 1901) with effect from October 1901. No reason for her resignation is noted in the minutes.[3] In 1902 she appears to have moved to Westray to work as an assistant to the Medical Officer there (thought to be a Dr Skea). She is mentioned in the Papa Westray minutes at a joint meeting of the Parish Council and the Medical Committee of 18 August 1902.  The Parish Council ask her if she would return as Medical Officer to Papa Westray – but she declines.[3] Dr Gaffikin was preceded on Papa Westray by Dr Jane Cr...

 The island of Flotta is now known as a farming community, the site of the Flotta oil terminal and is popular with tourists. Until the mid 20 th Century, like most of the islands in Orkney, it was primarily a farming and fishing community. So far in our search we have discovered 8 women doctors on the island between 1897 and 1943. Their practice also included the even smaller island of Fara.  The doctor’s surgery from that time, Springbank, is still in use today. Here is a snapshot of the remarkable women who practised on Flotta during that period. According to Peace’s Almanac of 1897, Dr Margaret Morice , then aged 50, was the Medical Officer on the island.[1] We know little about her time there, but we know she signed death certificates between January and June that year. The population of the island was about 372, with 59 on “South Fara”. Prior to arriving on Flotta, in 1888, Dr Morice was working as a medical missionary in India.[2]  A little later, about 1900,...