VINTAGE LUNDIN LINKS AND LARGO
  • Blog

Margaret Bethune

10/11/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Many readers of this blog will already be familiar with the life story of Margaret Bethune.  Her remarkable career as local midwife and her meticulous record-keeping have been documented elsewhere. Nevertheless, this site would not be complete without the inclusion of her story. Margaret Peebles was born in Largo in 1820. She married William Bethune in early 1844 and together they had two children, Margaret and William. The family were living in Lundin Mill when William senior, a coal miner at Carlhurlie, was killed in an accident at work.  The Fife Herald of 17 June 1852 described what happened:

"On Friday forenoon, William Bethune, a miner, residing at Lundin Mill, was found lying dead in a coal-pit to the north-ward of that village; part of the roof of the pit having fallen down upon him while occupied in excavating the coal. He was a sober and industrious man, in the vigour of life, and was an elder of the United Presbyterian Congregation, here. He was about to leave off the occupation of a miner, and commence shop-keeping, but this melancholy and fatal accident has ended all his plans and earthly prospects. His death is universally deplored, while he has left a widow and two children to lament his untimely fate."

While anyone reading those words would quite rightly feel great sympathy for William's widow, few would have imagined the strength of character that would motivate Margaret Bethune to do what she did next. By the end of the same year, at the age of 34, Margaret was enrolled in the midwifery course at the Chalmers Lying-In Hospital in Edinburgh. This was during the era of the legendary Edinburgh-based obstetrician,  James Young Simpson, who had discovered chloroform in 1847 and who pioneered several other advances in obstetrics.

Early in 1853, Margaret returned to Largo, ready to begin putting her training into practice.  From the first birth she attended, on 27 February 1853, a careful record was kept of each new arrival. Her casebook would go on to record 1,296 births and it is preserved to this day in Register House in Edinburgh. It is the oldest surviving record of its kind and pre-dates the 1855 law which required the statutory recording of all births. Below is an example of a page from her records. The columns show: case number; mother's name; place of residence; hour in the day; number of the pregnancy; sex of the child; the date; and the outcome.
Picture
Today it is difficult to imagine what the life of a midwife would have been like a century and a half ago. In the days before telephones, cars, electricity and such like, the practicalities of even contacting the midwife and of her travelling to the mother-to-be would have been challenging.  I imagine Margaret Bethune would have known the mothers-to-be well and would keep close tabs on the progress of their pregnancies. Yet, she would have to be prepared at all times for the unexpected. She would have worked closely with the local doctors - Dr Lumgair and then Dr Palm. She would have had to travel between the local villages and to outlying farms and cottages.  All this she did hundreds of times, for 34 years, with an impressive record of safe outcomes, and up until two months of her death in 1887 at the age of 67. Margaret's children went on to have fulfilling lives also - more on that another time.

With thanks to John Band for providing the images.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About

    This blog is about the history of the villages of Lundin Links, Lower Largo and Upper Largo in Fife, Scotland. Comments and contributions from readers are very welcome!

    Search

    There is no in-built search facility on this site. To search for content, go to Google and type your search words followed by "lundin weebly".

    Contact

    Categories

    All
    Antiquities
    Beach
    Boarding Houses
    Business
    Churches
    Clubs And Societies
    Drummochy
    Facilities
    Farming
    Fishing
    Golf
    Houses
    Keil's Den
    Largo Law
    Lower Largo
    Masseney Braes
    New Gilston
    People
    Railway
    School
    Shops
    Standing Stanes
    Streets
    Tourism
    Upper Largo
    Viaduct
    War

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Links

    Largo Baywatch Blog
    Fife Family History Society
    ​
    Polish Parachute Brigade Info​

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.