Dr Graham’s Homes in 2024 – the highlights!It's been a busy year for the Homes and our charity – here are some of the highlightsDr Graham’s Homes has produced some incredible individuals over the years – not least Dr Graham himself, who created the Homes in 1901. But for sheer life-changing service, few people can touch Mary Hepburne Scott, a Scottish missionary who worked at the Homes in the early 20th century. Though little known in the wider world today, Mary had a huge impact on the eastern Himalayas during her lifetime (1877-1963). Across nearly 50 years of service, she wore a bewildering range of hats: she was a teacher, hostel manager, craft industry supervisor, hospital nurse, and a bookshop owner. She also ran medical camps for the sick and dying during epidemics, befriended the monarch of Sikkim, and launched a school for the blind that still exists today. It’s an amazing story that’s retold in Life and Work (a journal that Dr Graham himself once worked on), co-written by Mary’s great, great, great nephew Walter. You can read the fascinating full story on their website. But here’s a taster of Mary’s remarkable life.
(Main image shows Mary (right), with Kathleen McLaren. Credit: Special Collections, Yale Divinity Library)
Who was Mary Hepburne Scott?
Mary was born into the Scottish aristocracy, the daughter of Lord and Lady Polwarth of Berwick. Having dreamt of becoming a missionary in India since childhood, she travelled to the Homes in 1905 to work alongside Dr Graham and wife Katherine, about four years after they launched the orphanage.
What did she do at Dr Graham’s Homes?
She had a huge variety of roles. Initially, she taught in the girls’ school established by Katherine. She then ran the campus hostel and the handicrafts school, an institution that provided paid work for local women – a revolution at the time. She also played harmonium in church and opened a Christian bookshop in the bazaar.
What were her wider roles?
Mary also worked in the hospital. When disease broke out, she organised medical camps – at great personal risk. But she was perhaps best known for her friendships within the local Lepcha community, travelling miles across mountainous terrain by pony, or on foot, to support them. “No-one comes closer to the life of the villagers than she,” wrote missionary James Nicholl Ogilvie in 1922. “The women and the girls of the hills rejoice to see her coming.”
Image shows Mary Scott (bottom row, third from right) outside Sikkim Church. Dr Graham is bottom row, second from left. Credit: Special Collections, Yale Divinity Library.
When did she leave the Homes?
When the nearby mission in Sikkim lost its leader, Mary volunteered to step in. Thanks to her glowing reputation, the ruler of Sikkim – the Chogyal – granted her permission to move there in 1923. Mary would go on to become a trusted friend, even attending a royal tour of India in 1925. She also launched a home school, which became the Paljor Namgyal Girls’ School, now celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Image shows Tashi Namgyal, the Chogyal of Sikkim. Credit: Ernst Krause, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons
Why did she return?
By 1940, Mary’s health and eyesight were failing, so she decided to retire to Kalimpong. It turned out to be a short one! Seeing blind boys begging near her cottage, she decided to start a home and school for blind children. It still exists today as The Salvation Army, Mary Scott Home for the Blind.
Read the full story
You can read the whole article, A Trusted Friend, on Life and Work’s website. Life and Work is a monthly magazine published by the Church of Scotland, available by postal or digital subscription. Follow them here on Instagram and here on Facebook.
Dr Graham’s Homes in 2024 – the highlights!It's been a busy year for the Homes and our charity – here are some of the highlights
