Margaret Barton – Helen Kegie’s Sister
Margaret Elizabeth Barton was born on 3rd April 1926, the second child of Alfred Quinton Barton and Amy Child. She was brought up in Cinderford in the Forest of Dean, where her father ran a pharmacy and opticians as well as providing photographic services.
Figure 2: Margaret with her mother and siblings on a seaside holiday about 1933
She was educated at Lydney Grammar School, where she was awarded a Minor Scholarship to Girton College in Cambridge as a medical student. Later she transferred to Middlesex Hospital medical School for the clinical course in 1948, the year after women were admitted in 1947. She was the first woman to receive the Broderip Scholarship.
Figure 4: Margaret in her university days
After qualification, she worked first in Middlesex then in Wolverhampton and Birmingham Children’s Hospital. She completed her MD by thesis in 1964. Also in that year she was appointed Consultant Paediatrician at East Birmingham, Solihull and Marston Green Hospitals.
Margaret retired in 1989, though she maintained her contacts with the profession. She returned to Staunton in the Forest of Dean, where her parents had moved in 1946. From 1990-97 she was clerk to the Parish Council and was also involved with the village activities and the Local History Society and Museum.
Margaret died on 1st March 2011 after a long illness. She had been living in a home in Caerleon, close to her sister Helen Kegie.
Figure 5: In 2006, Margaret established the Margaret Barton Bursary Fund for pre-clinical medical students in need. In recognition of this, she became a Barbara Bodichan Foundation Fellow of Girton College