A great-gran who delivered thousands of little bundles of joy as a midwife in Dumfries, Kilmarnock and Africa has enjoyed her own special delivery.
Violet McEwan was “absolutely delighted” to receive a card from the King and Queen Consort to mark her 100th birthday on Thursday.
It was open house at her Dumfries home as family, neighbours and friends popped in to wish the region’s latest centenarian all the best for her milestone birthday, bringing cards, gifts and a special cake.
Youngest son, Jim, who is a well-known photographer, said: “She really enjoyed all the fuss and was absolutely delighted with the card from the King. Thank you to everyone who came.”
Violet Marchbank was born on January 19, 1923, at a farm just outside Dumfries into a large family.
Shortly afterwards, the Marchbank family moved to Burnside Farm at Auldgirth, where she grew up with six siblings and had a long walk to Burnhead Primary each school day, and her education continued at Dumfries Academy.
She trained to be a nurse and then a midwife, working during the Second World War in Dumfries and Kilmarnock.
Noted for her sense of adventure, Violet and a life-long friend, the late Marjory Palmer, decided to head for pastures new after the war and put their midwifery skills to good use in south central Africa – what was then known as Northern Rhodesia during British colonial rule and is now the independent country of Zambia.
Jim said she has shared plenty of stories of her time there travelling around the villages trying to encourage pregnant native women to come into the clinic for healthcare and well-being and to give birth.
Her base was a town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia called Mufulira, which developed around the Mufulira Copper Mine in the 1930s and means “place of abundance and peace”.
And it was there that she met James McEwan, who had left his Kirkcaldy home on the east coast of Scotland to work in the copper mines as a plumber.
They were married in Mufulira in 1952 by the district commissioner and two sons, Neil and Jim, were born there.
Growing unrest and political change saw her move back to Dumfries in late 1958 with her young sons and they lived in a caravan on her father’s Burnside Farm until James could join them and the family moved for a new life in Kinghorn, Fife.
A year later they were on the move again, settling for 12 years in Denny, Stirlingshire, where James set up his own business as a licensed grocer and sub postmaster.
They also kept up their links with Dumfries and Galloway, buying a cottage at Irongray, and eventually moved to Dumfries in the 1970s with Violet once again taking up her calling in the nursing profession.
She worked at the old Cresswell Maternity Hospital until retirement in 1980, while her husband, who died 30 years ago, worked at a plumbing suppliers in Georgetown.
And their family increased to five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, with many attending her birthday open house. A granddaughter, Kirstin McEwan, took the picture of her celebrating with her birthday card from the King and her special cake.
Jim said the secret of his mum’s longevity has to be the resilience she inherited as a Marchbank: “All the Marchbank women are strong and able. She was brought up on sheep’s heid broth and whatever my grandad farmed. The farm had no electricity and no indoor toilet and my grandmother cooked everything that was fresh and natural – nothing added.
“She grew up tough and has always been a hard worker. I think that is what has helped her live such a long life.
“She has always enjoyed travelling and when they were in Africa, she and my dad visited many places there and had breaks around Europe. When they both retired they continued travelling all over for a few months at a time.
“After my dad died she also went travelling in Hong Kong and China with a friend from Dumfries.
“It is also amazing to think just how many thousands of babies she has helped bring into the world in such diverse places as Dumfries, Kilmarnock and Africa.”
