Katherine Helen Davidson (1845 – 1925) was a Church of Scotland deaconess who was the first deputy of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

's Woman's Guild.

Life

Davidson was born in 1845. Her parents were Mary Anne (born Leslie) and Professor Patrick Davidson. Her father was an advocate and he taught at King's College, Aberdeen University. She was the third daughter and they had nine other children. One of her first jobs was in Surrey. For four years she worked at the Princess Mary Village Homes. This organisation, which was founded in 1872, cared for the daughters of women who were in prison. She then worked for the Mildmay Centre in London and then in Guernsey. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland's Woman's Guild had been founded in 1887 at the suggestion of A. H. Charteris."Woman's Guild" in ''Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology'' Wright D.F. ''et al.'' (eds) Edinburgh 1993 Another source credits his wife

Catherine Charteris Catherine "Katie" Charteris born Catherine Anderson (1837 – 18 November 1918) was a British philanthropist. Life She was born in 1837 in Aberdeen. Her parents were Rachel, born Johnston, and Alexander Anderson who was the Lord Provost of Aberd ...

's "wise counsel and loving heart" and says that the guild "owes its very existence to her efforts". Davidson became a protogee of A. H. Charteris. She became both a deaconess and the Women's Guild's first deputy in 1889. She was credited with inspiring more branches with her infectious enthusiasm as she went to over 100 different parishes by horse and cart. There were only 33 branches of the guild when she started. By 1907 there was 29,000 members in 400 branches. Besides the Guild she also endeavored to help people in the fishing industry, and paid for the building of a rest house in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

for industry workers. She was also involved with an orphanage in

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

. Davidson was severely injured in an accident in 1918.

Death and legacy

Davidson died on 12 May 1925. She was buried in Banchory-Ternan Kirkyard in Banchory together with four of her siblings. The stone records that she was one of the first three deaconesses and mentions her work with the guild and with Scotland's fisher girls. When she died there were 879 different branches of the Women's Guild which had in total 52,000 members.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Katherine 1845 births category:1925 deaths category:Deaconesses Clergy from Aberdeen