Reference
X495/170-175
Title
Diaries belonging to Dr Dora Mason, a former Bedford Borough Medical Officer, and her sister, Lillie Gordon Mason
Date free text
1932 - 1964
Production date
From: 1932 To: 1964
Scope and Content
They lived at 5 Linden Road, Bedford. For a number of years after her retirement Dr Mason did voluntary cataloguing in the County Record Office, hence the 'CRO' references in her diary. The sisters' daily help, Mrs Swannell of 15 Canning Street, is referred to as "Mrs Sw", and the sisters relied heavily on her and her husband for practical assistance. Lillie in her diaries defers to her sister as "D" and Dora refers to her sister as "L.G.". From the diary of "L.G." it would appear that she was a school teacher and came to live with her sister in Bedford about 1941; she died 10th February 1960, aged 90. Dora lived on in the house until late 1964 when with failing mental powers she was admitted to Fairfield Hospital, Stotfold, where she died 11th March 1978. For an appreciation of her and her early work as organiser of the Bedford suffragettes see A F Cirket's letter in Bedfordshire Times 21 April 1978
Level of description
series