Dougal, Helen Lewise, 1906-1976 (Scottish teacher)
Dates
- Existence: 1906 - 1976
Biography
Helen Dougal was a student of the University of Edinburgh with a specialism in geography. She received her postgraduate diploma in 1928 and, in Easter 1929 she came to Montpellier, France, to do a spring course organised by the National Union of Students. Helen had hopes of coming back to Montpellier to continue her studies at the Collège des Écossais, or Scots College, founded there by Patrick Geddes in 1924. Unfortunately, her family was not able to give her the necessary financial support to take up the bursary offered to her by Patrick Geddes, and after graduating, she trained as a teacher and became a primary teacher. In 1939 she settled down with Colin Brown, before returning to teaching in the 1960s after the death of her husband.
Helen Dougals's father, John Wilson Dougal, was a friend of Patrick Geddes. He was a trained chemist who ran his own business in Edinburgh, but his passion was the geology of the Outer Hebrides, and in 1928 he was awarded an honorary PhD by the University of Edinburgh in recognition of his contribution to the field.