Catherine Gilray Bailey (née Simpson)

Dr Catherine Gilray Bailey (née Simpson) was born on 20 December 1919 in Greenock, Scotland, the eldest of four daughters, to Mary and Charles McGregor Simpson (and was a descendant of James Gillray, the famous political cartoonist). She was educated at Greenock Academy prior to studying at Glasgow and Birmingham Universities. After qualifying as a doctor of medicine, because of the second world war, she was immediately called up and served in the Royal Army Medical Corps. During her time in the British Army she found that, wherever she was posted, on arrival the very first words spoken to her were, “Good God, you’re a woman,” and this followed by a hasty rearrangement of billeting due to her being of the fairer sex. On her release from the army, Captain C G Simpson settled down to civilian life. Ray, as she was known by all her friends at that time, reputedly became the first woman in industrial medicine by accepting the role of medical officer, firstly, at the Austin Motor Company and then at GKN (Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds). It was while working in Birmingham that she met John Oswald Bailey (the elder son of the founder of the Oswald Bailey group of companies) whom she subsequently married after a whirlwind romance in 1950.

John and Ray set up home in Birmingham and remained there until 1961, when they moved to Sandbanks. The idea was that John would move his business interests from Birmingham to Boscombe, but John died in 1965 a few months before finalising this dream. Ray, who to add to confusion was also known as Catherine by her “southern” relatives and friends, decided to return to medicine after taking a refresher course at Exeter University. She first acted as a locum to various local doctors and then joined a practice in Lagland Street, Poole, where she remained until she retired because of ill health. Ray also served on the Wessex regional committee of the Medical Women’s Federation as well as numerous other local committees.

She enjoyed travelling all around Europe with her two sons, and every summer a different country was explored, firstly, by car and tent, then later by camper van. Each trip had the same agenda: to explore places off the beaten track and to enjoy the local food and wine.

During her retirement years, which were not easy, Ray was dogged with ill health; however, she soldiered on suffering various setbacks which culminated in her moving from the large house in Panorama Road to a specially adapted bungalow in Lilliput. Shortly after the move she again suffered another stroke which resulted in her being hospitalised, firstly in Poole and then at Alderney Hospital. It was at Alderney Hospital that her sons were told that she had some six weeks to live and that she should be moved to a nursing home to end her days with dignity.

Ray was then moved to Canford Chase Nursing Home Branksome Park in 1999, where she enjoyed not six weeks but nine further years of quality life. She died on Friday 18 April 2008 and is survived by her two children, Andrew and Mark; two daughters-in-law, Shani and Allyson; and six grandchildren, Danielle, John, Louisa, Shayne, James, and Jacinta.

Finally, Ray will always be remembered as “that Scots lady” who stood for fairness and equality, was not afraid to take on the establishment, and succeeded in everything she did; she was the “Queen Boadicea” of the medical world and opened many doors for future generations of the fairer sex.