19 February 1923 diary of Dr John Stewart Muir (1845-1938) of Selkirk

Calmer today + the snow that had fallen during the night was lying on trees &c but the frost had gone + there was a gradual thaw. Roads slushy : no fall. One or two glints of sunshine. I motored to Bridgelands to see Agnes Rodger¹ who had hurt her knee + Miss Scott² Saw some town cases walking but finished by 1. Helen³, Dora⁴ + Miss Wallace⁵ went to “The Edge of Beyond” in Victoria Hall.⁶ News came of Dav. Alexander’s death.⁷

¹ Agnes Christina Rodger (1875-1959), daughter of George Rodger and Elizabeth Charlotte Rodger née Eck, see also Dr Muir’s diary for 20 January 1919 diary (“Agnes Rodger called at night to say good bye as she goes back to India about the 27th”).

² Miss Scott is unidentified.

³ Helen Frances ‘Mousey’ Muir (1880-1963), Dr Muir’s third daughter and sometime housekeeper.

⁴ Andrina Dorothy ‘Dora’ Muir (1882-1978), nurse and Dr Muir’s youngest daughter.

⁵ It is not yet possible to identify Miss Wallace.

⁷ David Carnegie Alexander (1882-1923), M.B., Ch.B. Ed. 1905, medical practitioner, died 17 February 1923 at South Palm Beach, Florida. Born Selkirk, he had seen service in the First World War and later moved to the United States.

⁶ Gertrude Eliza Page (1872-1922), romantic comedy novelist sometimes known as “The Kipling of Rhodesia”. She published numerous novels including ‘Mysterious Strangers’, 1902, ‘The Rhodesian’, 1912, ‘At Daggers Drawn’ and ‘The Edge of Beyond’, 1908. Her ‘Paddy the Next Best Thing’, also 1908, was shown in a dramatised version at the Victoria Hall, Selkirk, see Dr Muir’s diary entry for 13 January 1922.