“a horse or conveyance of some sort to put over the worst of the winter so as to enable me to get over the ground without running a risk to my health.”
This was a request made by Dr Jeannie Newton to the Medical Committee and Parish Council on the Orkney island of Papa Westray in October 1902, as a condition for staying longer in her post as Resident Medical Officer and Public Vaccinator. It indicates one of the challenges facing the doctors working on the island at the time and the problems which faced the island committees in appointing and retaining a resident doctor on the island. CO6/11/1: Public Assistance Papa Westray Parochial Board/Parish Council Minute Book, 1895-1903, Orkney Library and Archive In December 1896, it was recorded that the Parish Council had received a “numerously signed petition” from rate payers and others asking for a Resident Medical Officer to be appointed for the island (population at the time 337). Until this time, Papa Westray (or Papay as it is known locally) was served by the Resident Medical Officer from the nearest island of Westray. However, the distance between the two islands is 4 miles an...