My aunt Sally Stinson, who has died aged 95, was a GP who ran a one-woman practice in the Grimsby docks for more than 40 years.
She studied medicine at St Thomas’s hospital in London during the second world war, and was evacuated to Leeds, where she qualified in 1946. She remarked that she saw many things that would not have been included in a peacetime medical curriculum.
At the time, women were still fairly rare in medicine and Sally was one of only four in her year. Despite encountering a fair amount of prejudice – for instance she spoke of being booed by male students when entering the lecture theatre, and some men refusing to be examined by a female doctor – Sally took it all on the chin, being determined, strong and independent. She continued studying, completing her diploma in obstetrics in 1950, and diploma in child health in 1953.
Born Sara Stinson in Lytham St Anne’s, Lancashire, to Charles and Isabella (nee Ramsay), who were both teachers, Sally was the middle of three sisters. The family moved to London and she won a scholarship to Haberdashers’ Aske’s school before heading to St Thomas’s. While studying Sally also took on air raid warden duties in London and Leeds, moving to Grimsby, Lincolnshire, after the war.
Being on call 24 hours a day was the norm for Sally, and she never knew what she would find on answering a call. She would occasionally be threatened by patients, but Sally was not afraid, saying she knew how to handle them. When she experienced a stroke in 1982, she made a rapid recovery, her house heaped with gifts and cards from wellwishers. She was not keen to retire, but was obliged to do so at 70.
In her 25 years of retirement, Sally enjoyed simple pleasures, including pottering around in Donegal, Ireland, where her mother’s family originated from, reliving idyllic childhood holidays. When back in Grimsby she was never short of invitations to christenings and weddings from former patients.
Sally is survived by three nephews and three nieces, including me.
