Margaret Barr Fulton (14 February 1900 – 16 December 1989) was a Scottish occupational therapist. Fulton was the first qualified occupational therapist to work in the UK. She worked at the Aberdeen Royal Asylum (now

Royal Cornhill Hospital Royal Cornhill Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Westburn Road, Aberdeen, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Grampian. History The hospital was founded as the Aberdeen Lunatic Asylum in 1800. The city's dancing master, Francis Peacock, donated ...

) from 1925 until her retirement in 1963. Fulton was a founder of the

World Federation of Occupational Therapists In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and its first president.

Early life and education

Fulton was born on 14 February 1900 in Cheetham, Manchester, England to Dr. Andrew Boyd and Elizabeth (née Barr) Fulton. Her parents were Scottish. She was the youngest of their five children. Her father was a general practitioner. Fulton was privately educated at

Manchester High School for Girls Manchester High School for Girls is an English independent day school for girls and a member of the Girls School Association. It is situated in Fallowfield, Manchester. The head mistress is Helen Jeys who took up the position in September 2020 ...

. After her father's death in 1919, she went on holiday to the US with her mother to visit relatives. On this holiday, she first learnt about occupational therapy, and decided to study at the Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy between 1922 and 1923. After obtaining a diploma from the school, she completed a six-month placement at the Metropolitan Hospital Center in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

where she fostered her interest in

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

Career

Fulton returned to the UK and attempted to find a job for seven months before psychiatrist David Henderson, who had previously started the first occupational therapy department in the UK, arranged for her to meet Robert Dods Brown, the medical superintendent of the Aberdeen Royal Asylum (now

). Fulton was appointed in 1925, therefore becoming the first qualified occupational therapist to work in the UK. In her role, she instructed crafts lessons for patients, and in 1927 she organised an exhibition of their work, which was inaugurated by the Commissioner for Lunacy Sir Arthur Rose. By 1932, fifteen therapists had been appointed in Scottish mental health hospitals, and together they created the Scottish Association of Occupational Therapy with Fulton as secretary and treasurer. She went on to become elected as its chairwoman in 1946 and served on its council from 1949–1960 and 1964–1971. Fulton was a founder of the

in 1952 and was elected as its first president. After the organisation held its first international congress in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in August 1954, she received an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in the

1955 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1955 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1955 to celebrat ...

for her contribution to the profession.

Retirement and legacy

Fulton retired in 1963. She died on 16 December 1989 in Edinburgh. On 12 May 1995,

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

, the patron of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, inaugurated the Fulton Clinic and Memorial Garden at the Royal Cornhill Hospital in recognition of her work.

Bibliography

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, Margaret Barr 1900 births 1989 deaths Occupational therapists 20th-century Scottish women People from Manchester People educated at Manchester High School for Girls Members of the Order of the British Empire