Old Photograph Queen Street Castle Douglas Scotland

Old photograph of cottages, shops and people on Queen Street in Castle Douglas near Threave Castle, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Agnes McDonald was born on 2nd of September 1829 in Castle Douglas her parents were Elizabeth Caven and John Carmont. While her parents were farmers she spent most of her upbringing in Glasgow, in the household of Dr. McCarthney, her uncle. She assisted him in his dispensary through which she gained a knowledge of medicine. This would prove valuable to her after she settled in rural New Zealand. The opportunity to immigrate to New Zealand arose through a job working as a companion to the wife of Sir Charles Clifford. Agnes arrived in Wellington, New Zealand in 1850. She worked for three years as a companion to Mary Ann Clifford. In 1854 she married trader Hector McDonald, also of Scotland. At this time Hector had gained a lease of 12,000 acres of land from Muaūpoko and hapu from Ngāti Raukawa. The couple moved to this land in Ōtaki where Hector ran 12,000 sheep. With only two European neighbours Agnes learned te reo and raised her children to be bilingual. Her first child was born in 1856 and two more followed in 1857 and 1858. In the 1860s, Agnes was witness to epidemics of influenza and scrofula that affected the region. Her medical knowledge and services were crucial to the treatment of children and families during this time. In the 1870s she travelled to Wellington where she was able to acquire a medical chest paid for by the government so that she could use her medical knowledge to treat children and families in her region. Through treating scrofula she was able to find a cure for the fatal variants of the disease in the form of iodine. Although she became well known for her remedies not all her patients were willing. She actively sought out sufferers of scrofula in the surroundings pa to undergo treatment. >Agnes died in 1906[1] and was buried beside her husband in their family cemetery near Lake Horowhenua.

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