Celebrating special Women in Milngavie

Milngavie Heritage Centre recently opened its Women of Milngavie exhibition at the Heritage Centre in Milngavie town hall.
By John A. MacInnes
Published 8th Mar 2019, 07:05 GMT
Updated 8th Mar 2019, 08:07 GMT
L-R: Flora Macdonald, sister of Morag Macdonald, Milngavies former midwife and district nurse, Mrs Catriona Macdonald, Floras daughter.L-R: Flora Macdonald, sister of Morag Macdonald, Milngavies former midwife and district nurse, Mrs Catriona Macdonald, Floras daughter.
L-R: Flora Macdonald, sister of Morag Macdonald, Milngavies former midwife and district nurse, Mrs Catriona Macdonald, Floras daughter.

Anne O’Hagan, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Dunbartonshire, formally opened the unique event earlier this week.

Eric Gotts, chair of Milngavie Heritage Centre committee, welcomed over 40 guests and 17 Douglas Academy S1 pupils, and said: “This exhibition is a major part of Milngavie’s contribution to East Dunbartonshire’s Local History Week 2019. We are excited to offer this exhibition plus a talk at The Lillie Art Gallery on Thursday, March 7 at 2pm, in partnership with EDLC, on the local international artist Joan Eardley by her niece Anne Morrison.”

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“We are also delighted to see so many people and schoolchildren here at this formal opening of the Women of Milngavie exhibition. Many people at this launch contributed stories, anecdotes and photos of their family and friends and are very much part of the story, history and heritage of Milngavie women.”

Anne O’Hagan opened the event emphasising the role and mark that women have made in Milngavie but have not always featured prominently in the press and media until recently. She picked out Morag Macdonald, the district nurse and midwife ‘who will have delivered many of you in this room!’

She commented: “I remember Mrs Cowie’s toy shop, Jessie Brown’s tattie scones, and all the guiding activities under the leadership of Cicely Campbell Douglas, all strong women.”

Hilary Howatt spoke about what triggered the exhibition, saying: “The fact that the Representation of the People’s Act 1918 was 101 years ago and we needed to acknowledge and spell out womens’ heritage over the intervening years, and also, no research had been carried out in Milngavie so we had to start from a blank sheet.”

International Women’s Day takes place on Saturday, March 9 and Milngavie Heritage Centre is delighted to be offering this exhibition to celebrate this worldwide celebration of women.