Mary Roe Knowling (21 October 1923 – 31 January 2013) was a South African

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

. She was born in

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

to Arthur Knowling and Ruth Mullins. She attended the Diocesan School for Girls from 1933 to 1941. She served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a bombardier in the

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

Robben Island Robben Island () is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch language, Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrika ...

, after which she trained as a nurse at

Groote Schuur Hospital Groote Schuur Hospital is a large government-funded teaching hospital situated on the slopes of Devil's Peak (Cape Town), Devil's Peak in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. It was founded in 1938 and is famous for being the institution where ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. After a stint as a midwife in East London and overseas travel she returned to South Africa to study medicine at

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. She returned to her home city of

and established a successful medical practice from 1965 to 1987. In addition to her medical work she was also a

churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion, Lutheran Churches or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' mem ...

at the

Grahamstown Cathedral The Cathedral of St Michael and St George is the home of the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of Grahamstown. The cathedral is located on Church ...

and spent a great deal of time and effort on the restoration of the cathedral, she was awarded membership of the

Order of Simon of Cyrene The Order of Simon of Cyrene is the highest award given by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa to laity for distinguished service. It was established in 1960, during the tenure of Archbishop Joost de Blank, following a proposal by Bishop R ...

in 2011 in recognition for this and other philanthropic work in Grahamstown. The Sunset

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

of Grahamstown named Dr Knowling its third "Citizen of the Year" in 2001. Her philanthropic work included voluntary work for: * Diocesan School for Girls *Grahamstown and District Relief Association (Gadra) *Eloxweni Children's Shelter and the *

SPCA A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which was founded ...

Publications

She co-authored ''The Diary of Robert John Mullins (1833–1913)'' and ''The Lives of Robert and Jennie Mullins''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowling, Mary Roe 1923 births 2013 deaths People from Makhanda, Eastern Cape South African Anglicans