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 Craig/Latchmore and succeeded by Dr Jeanie Trail/Cummings. A previous blog post reports some interesting insights into the surprisingly high number of women doctors on Papa Westray in the early years. Link to blog post
As yet we
don’t know what links (if any) there were between these women doctors on the
islands and we hope to explore this in the coming months. It may be that the women qualified at a
similar time, or at the same university, or there were informal networks
letting them know of vacancies. It is
known that, for example, on the island of Eday, the Parish Minutes note the
Clerk was instructed to contact the Secretary of the Women’s Medical College in
Edinburgh and notify them of the vacancy, as well as also advertising in the
Scotsman newspaper.[4]
Although we
know little about her time in Orkney, Dr Gaffikin’s achievements elsewhere are
better documented.
After leaving
Orkney her work focussed on public health and, in particular, maternal and
child welfare, school medical inspections and the teaching of hygiene in
schools. She published a paper on this
subject in 1911 in the Journal of the Royal Institute of Public Health.[5]
In 1912 she
was one of a number of medical professionals who signed a medical petition
against the forcible feeding of women suffragette prisoners which was sent to
the then Home Secretary.[6]
 |
| Daily Herald, 5 July 1912 |
While during
WW1, in September 1916, Dr Gaffikin embarked on the Hospital Ship “Essquibo” as
part of the Women’s Medical Unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC).[7] She was contracted to work for 12 months as a
Civilian Surgeon attached to the RAMC.
Her salary was 24 shillings a day. A gratuity of £60 was awarded at the
end of the contract, as long as employment wasn’t terminated due to misconduct.
In 1917 she was working at the Manoel Island Hospital (Malta), returning to
England on 9 September 1918 having had her one year contract
extended. She’s reported as then working at “Southern Command”
until January 1919 when she resigned.
After the war
Dr Gaffikin held a number of posts including House Surgeon for the Royal Samaritan Hospital for Women in Glasgow;
Assistant Medical Officer of Health, Huddersfield; Acting Medical Officer of
Health, Warrington which included supervision of a small tuberculosis hospital;
and Schools Medical Officer, Enfield.
She was also Secretary of The Women’s National Health Association (WNHA)
which was founded in 1907 to promote public health in Ireland.[7]
Dr Prudence Gaffikin died in 1966
in Winchester, Hampshire, at the age of 92 having led a full and extraordinary
life[1]
We have no photos of Dr Gaffikin,
and very little information of her time in Orkney. If you know anything about
her, please do get in touch.
Researched
and written by Sian Thomas
With
thanks for additional research to Christine Bryan, Andrea Massey and Jeanie
Molyneux. Thanks also to the archivists in Orkney Library and Archive for their
invaluable help.
Note: The
population of Papay in 1901 was 295 and 1,817 for Westray [Population
figures were taken from Barclay R.S. “The Population of Orkney 1755-1916.
Published by W.R. Mackintosh, The Kirkwall Press, 1965.]
References
[1] Professor
Roger Jeffrey of the University of Edinburgh - Database on Women Doctors.
[2] UK Medical Registers 1859-1959; 1915. (Accessed through Ancestry.co.uk).
[3] CO6/11/1: Papa Westray Parish Council Minute Book, 1895-1903, Orkney
Library and Archive.
[4] CO6/3/3: Eday Parish Council Minute Book, 1899-1908, Orkney Library and
Archive.
[5] Gaffikin P. (1911) “The need of some correlation between infant mortality
work, school medical inspection, and the teaching of hygiene in schools. Journal
of the Royal Institute of Public Health,19(7), pp399-406.
[6] “Torture”, Daily Herald, 5 July 1912.
[7] MaltaRAMC.com
(https://maltaramc.com/ladydoc/g/gaffikenpe.html)
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