Margaret Duncan was born in 1880 in Turriff. She graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1903 with an MB ChB, as one of the first five female graduates. She worked as an Assistant Medical officer in Sheffield until 1907.
Duncan returned to Aberdeen to marry another doctor, William Rattray Pirie. Sadly she died at the age of 28 years old from “Cardiac failure” following childbirth. This cause of death would be considered unacceptable today while cardiac disease remains the leading indirect cause of maternal mortality in the UK.
