Arran’s oldest resident lived her life to the full
Beatrice Mary Wilson (Molly) 28.05.1912 to 23.03.2016
Arran’s oldest resident, Molly Wilson, died last month at the grand old age of 103. Here her daughter Mary Robinson who lives in Whiting Bay gives a personal account of her life and times.
Molly was born Beatrice Mary Plater on May 26 1912, the year the Titanic went down, in Aylesbury. Her parents were Harry and Beatrice Plater. Harry was a bespoke tailor.
Molly was the eldest and only girl of the family and her father spoiled her. She was able to wheedle whatever she wanted from him – so much so that he bought her a very large silver ball which became known as Molly’s moon, which we still have.
She seemed to have had a happy childhood and was very keen on her dancing classes. She changed schools often as she got older because her mother wanted her to go to better private schools although mum told us she liked the local grammar school best as there were boys there.
On finishing school, she started her nurse training at the Princess Alice Hospital in Eastbourne, where the family now lived. It was there she met our father, Charlie, a young very shy doctor, the son of CTR and Jessie Wilson. CTR was a Nobel Prize laureate.
They were married in Eastbourne in 1938 and moved up to Gorebridge, a mining village south-east of Edinburgh, where my father became a junior partner in a very busy mixed practice of miners, farmers and commuters, where they stayed until they retired.
Molly became part of the National Hospital Reserve, was a hospital bank, and she worked at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh.
In 1939, her first child, Andrew, was born, followed by Mary three years later, then Margaret in 1944.
Molly then became more involved in local community affairs becoming a commandant of the Red Cross and leading the Girl Guides and Rangers. Molly was always interested in politics and seldom missed a meeting of the local Labour Party, later becoming a district and later county councillor.
Molly canvassed for the Labour Party at elections and at one particular poll she phoned Tam Dalziel to ask if he would like her help as her own constituency was a safe seat and didn’t need her. He welcomed her help and to this day he felt it was her support that got him into parliament.
In 1956, when the Hungarian revolution took place, Molly ran the Hungarian refugee camp at Middleton, and many of the Hungarians she befriended then reamined friends almost 60 years later.
There are many funny stories we can tell, such as her driving into Edinburgh (15 miles away) and, if she couldn’t find an easy parking space, she would drive home. She did take her driving test 10 times.
When our father died after not driving for many years, she decided to start driving again so we persuaded her to have some refresher lessons. The only thing was the driving instructor went off sick every week!
Molly was also known for her frightful hats and my sister Maggie and I were in fear and trepidation as to what creation she would be wearing to our sports day.
Molly was a JP and, as such, she was a magistrate and often had the embarrassment of meeting my father’s patients when she was on the bench.
She was also on the board of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and worked tirelessly for SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Family Association). Molly organised the blood transfusion sessions in the village and people would rather donate blood than say no to our mother.
Molly and Charlie loved to travel and planned their holidays themselves, going to Europe and working their way east to the then Yugoslavia, Hungary, Poland and Russia, making friends wherever they went.
They travelled all over Russia, then Albania, India, Tibet, Nepal, China and many other countries.
When we went with them we were a bit perturbed when mum took the wheel as she was very drawn to Holland – not on the itinerary – and we always seemed to end up in a station yard.
When father retired, they went first of all to live in the family home at Carlops, before moving to an apartment in Dalkeith. When Mary moved to Arran in 2002, she asked Molly, who was then 90, if she would like to go too. Molly’s reply was that she always wanted to live by the sea again.
Molly loved Arran but gradually became more disabled, becoming bedridden seven years ago and requiring much help from carers. They became her close friends. There was always a lot of laughter when they came, mum telling them funny stories about her travels, including an elephant winking at her when she passed him.
There was the occasion when a carer left her with the phone handset instead of the TV handset and Molly inadvertently kept on pressing the keys to change the TV station but was in fact dialling 999. The police rang but on getting no reply came to find out what was happening.
I had chosen that afternoon to take my nephew up to Lochranza and, on arriving home saw the police vehicle coming out of our road. I remarked to him, I wonder who has been naughty in our road – Molly. She had had a most enjoyable afternoon with these handsome smart young men and continually asked when they would come back. I had to take them a box of chocolate Heroes on her behalf.
Toward the end she lived on porridge and chocolate often shouting for porridge any time day or night. She died peacefully at home.