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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

munitions factory

HM Factory, Gretna H.M. Factory, Gretna was Britain's largest cordite factory during the First World War. The government-owned facility was adjacent to the Solway Firth, near Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway. It was built by the Minister of Munitions, Ministry o ...

. She is included in the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

Roll of Honour.

Family and education

Agnes Barr Auchencloss was born in Paisley, Scotland on 30 May 1886 to Jane Crawford and James Currie Auchencloss. Her father was a starch and cornflour merchant. She had a brother, also named James Currie Achencloss. She and her brother were educated at

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

and the

, where she studied medicine. On 24 April 1911 she graduated with a MBChB, having won 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 Company which served the gold mines in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

, South Africa. Her father-in-law Carl Olof Lundholm had been commissioned by

Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( ; ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman. He is known for inventing dynamite, as well as having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes. He also m ...

to manage his dynamite factory in Ardeer, Scotland. Their sons, Eric Olof Lundholm (b.1915) and Alan Basil Auchenloss Lundholm (b. 1921) were born at Modderfontein. Between 1915 and 1921 the family lived in Scotland near the munitions factory in Gretna. They returned to Scotland from South Africa as her husband Gosta was working in a factory 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 formu ...

. At this time the family lived in

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

. They then moved to

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#Scotland, Three Towns'. Ardrossan is loca ...

as Gosta was working at Ardeer. 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 the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in the Middle East 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 ...

. Her husband Gotta 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 communities in the

veldt Veld ( or , Afrikaans language, Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch: ''veld'', field), 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 scrubland, scrub, ...

in South Africa. From June 1916, her husband returned to Scotland to assist in the building of

a newly established munitions factory. He later became the lead chemist in the factory's nitro-glycerine department. Auchencloss became the Medical Officer at HM Factory, Gretna for what became 20,000 workers, mainly women. The factory was an extremely dangerous work environment with risks of injuries and explosions. When the King and Queen visited the factory in 1917, Auchenloss was one of those they met and spoke with. After the war, her husband's work moved again to South Africa and back to Scotland in 1929, where Auchencloss worked as a volunteer, latterly with the Women Citizens' Organisation. 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