Agnes Barr Auchencloss (30 May 1886 – 4 July 1972) was a Scottish medical officer. She is best known for her work at the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

munitions factory H.M. Factory Gretna. She is included in the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Roll of Honour.

Family and education

Agnes Barr Auchencloss was born on 30 May 1886 to parents James Currie Auchencloss and Jane Crawford, in Paisley. Her father was a starch and

cornflour Cornflour may refer to: * Cornflour (in the UK), corn starch, from the endosperm of the kernel of the corn (maize) grain * Corn flour (in the US and elsewhere), very finely ground cornmeal, ground from dried maize See also * Flour * Starch * Gl ...

merchant. She had a brother, also named James Currie Achencloss. Both were educated at

Paisley Grammar School Paisley Grammar School is a secondary school in Paisley, the largest town in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The school was founded in 1576 by royal charter of King James VI and is situated on Glasgow Road. The school is recognised as one of Scotland ...

and

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. Auchencloss qualified in medicine

MBChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United Kin ...

on 24 April 1911, after winning nine class prizes including first class in Anatomy and Surgery. She met and married Swedish chemist Gosta Lundholm, whose family had been in Scotland for many years, and had British citizenship. Her husband then worked at the British South African Explosive Co.Ltd. which served the gold mines in the Transvaal, South Africa. Her father-in-law Carl Olof Lundholm had been commissioned by Alfred Nobel to manage his dynamite factory in Ardeer, Scotland. Her first son was born in 1915, at Modderfontein South Africa, and named Eric Olof Lundholm, and her second son was born there in 1921, named Alan Basil Auchenloss Lundholm, in between these years the family had lived in Scotland near the munitions factory in Gretna. They then returned to Scotland as her husband Gosta was working in factories at Westquarter (making

fulminate of mercury Mercury(II) fulminate, or Hg(CNO)2, is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction, heat and shock and is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and detonators. Mercury(II) cyanate, though its chemical formula ...

) and then Ardeer, and they lived in Falkirk, then in

Ardrossan Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the ' Three Towns'. Ardrossan is located on the east shore ...

. Her eldest son, Eric was a

Royal Engineer The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

in the Middle East during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Her husband died in 1969 and she moved in with her son Alan and his wife in Torrance, Glasgow. She died in the Edinburgh City Hospital on 4 July 1972.

Career

Auchencloss started as house doctor at Royal Alexandra Infirmary, Paisley, then at Kilmarnock Infirmary. In 1914 she was a volunteer doctor in

Afrikaaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cas ...

communities in the

veldt Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswa ...

in South Africa. From June 1916, her husband had been sent back to Scotland to help build the factory and later lead chemist in the

nitro-glycerine Nitroglycerin (NG), (alternative spelling of nitroglycerine) also known as trinitroglycerin (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating ...

department in the newly established munitions operations, H.M. Factory Gretna. Auchencloss became the Medical Officer for what became 20,000 workers, mainly women. It was a very dangerous environment, with risks of injuries and explosions. When the King and Queen visited the factory in 1917, she was one of those they met and spoke with. After the war, her husband's work moved to South Africa again and back to Scotland in 1929, where Auchencloss worked as a volunteer, latterly with the Women Citizen's Organization. She was described as generously giving her time to the sick and injured throughout her life. Auchencloss was included in the University of Glasgow World War One Roll of Honour.

External links

image of Agnes Barr Auchencloss
note: copyright The University of Glasgow.
archive of her son Eric Olof Lundholm
includes husband's family tree history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auchencloss, Agnes Barr 1886 births 1972 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow 20th-century Scottish medical doctors People from Paisley, Renfrewshire People educated at Paisley Grammar School