My mum Daphne was a character, once met, never forgotten!

She was independent and strong willed, practical and capable, inquisitive and knowledgeable, a storyteller with certitude in her beliefs and opinions ,which at times could result in ‘violent agreement’ or ‘disapproval’.

Each of us will have our own unique personal memories of Daphne however I wanted to take this opportunity to briefly share some of my own personal reflections about Mum, who she was and what she meant to me and our family.

Young Daphne

To the delight of her parents, Robert and Nanny Webster, Daphne Ramsay Hutchison Webster was born on the 10th of June 1934 at 242 Colinton Road Edinburgh.

She had no brothers or sisters but had six cousins on her mother’s side of the family.

As an only child, she often had to make her own entertainment and enjoyed exploring the local countryside,coastline and beaches whilst developing her lifelong love of wildlife and ‘all creatures great and small’.

Growing up, she had the company of Robin, her west highland terrier, learnt to ride and gave lessons to ensure she had more opportunity to ride the horses at a local stable.

Her early childhood was loving and comfortable, although this would have been disrupted and shaped by the second world war and Mum had many stories to tell of the impact the war had on her, her family, neighbours and friends. 

From the age of twelve she followed in her Mum’s footsteps and attended St Georges School for Girls in Edinburgh and living out of town, travelled daily by train enjoying all sorts of high jinks with her friends by all accounts. 

At eighteen, in 1952, her ‘medical’ training started. She studied and trained as a physiotherapist at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. The skills and medical training were going to prove particularly handy later in life and were often deployed when looking after Dad and her four active sons, who were always in need of help with injuries, breaks, strains and bruises.

After training as a physiotherapist, Mum spent time at an Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy and the combination of ‘medical’ and ‘catering’ training allowed her the opportunity, at the age off 22 , to leave Edinburgh , cross the border, and take on a Boarding School Catering and Nursing Care role at Abbotsholme School in Staffordshire. That’s where she met my dad John Plowman, a Cambridge Graduate, fresh from national service a dashing young schoolteacher with an open top sports car!

They were married in Edinburgh two years later and when Dad secured a position as a Physics and Chemistry teacher at The Glasgow Academy they moved to Glasgow. 
Moving came as a bit of a shock for someone hailing from Edinburgh, one that I’m not sure Mum ever fully recovered from!

Daphne – Mum

Daphne became Mum at the age of 24 when my brother David was born, then having moved to 131 Stirling Gardens, Bishopbriggs. Alistair, Me and Stephen followed. We were all born approximately eighteen months apartwhich meant Mum must have had been incredibly capable to be able to look after four under-fives on her own with no or limited support and no car whilst Dad was away teaching all day.

I remember a very loving, stable, and happy childhood and whilst Mum and Dad didn’t have much money  andwe had to learn to share, make do and mend, we had all we needed and more.   There was always plenty of food on the table, clothes to wear, we were well educated and had plenty of excursions and holidays in the caravan visiting grandparents in North Berwick and down south in Rye.Throughout our childhood we were surrounded by plants, pets and wildlife. I used to describe the house as a ‘menagerie’ and the garden as a jungle. We had dogs, cats, guineapigs, gerbils, hamsters, mice, terrapins and a budgie to name a few.

Mum used to say all the animals were for the boys however animals remained a strong theme for many years after we had left home and throughout the rest of her life. She was well known as an animal lover locally and neighbours would bring any injured wildlife or sick pets to her door for her to advise on or preferably adopt.
Mum was a devoted mother and fiercely protective of ‘her boys’ and when younger we ALL followed her around, vying for her attention and looked to her for pretty much everything, especially food and pocket money!
Perhaps we took it all a bit for granted however looking back it must have been very hard for Mum bringing us all up even with Dad’s support.

We were all educated at Glasgow Academy which was a perk of Dad’s teaching role, but this still must have been tricky as it meant going in to town and back every day by car and with us all being in different year groups, some at prep school when others at secondary and all needing picked up, dropped off or looked after at differing times and at different locations. Even when Mum learnt to drive this must have been difficult and whilst our School Fees didn’t need paid for, Mum and Dad still had to deal with the huge expense of school uniforms, sports kits, text books etc.


Mum may have been the only female in our family of six however she ensured she had her voice and was listened to. She ensured she got what she wanted and the respect she deserved.  All four boys can testify to her skill with a slipper which she used to keep discipline. She had an uncanny accuracy and if we tried to run away, she wasable to lockedon to target and throw her slipper at us for yet another successful air strike.

At Easter time we used to get ‘Easter money’ sent from our Grandma and Grandad down south to buy eggs and / or use for a treat. This money was invested in an annual visit to the cinema. Mum took control of the film choice,and four boys and Dad were made to go to The Sound of Music, Songs of Norway, Mary Poppins and Bed knobsand Broomsticks. It was only when a few years later, I was invited to the cinema by a friend’s parents to and got to see Ben Hur that I realised there were alternative films possibly more suitable for teenage boys.

When we were a bit older Mum decided to go out to work to supplement Dad’s income and whilst this added another layer of logistic complication, the money was needed. She had a few part time sales and marketing roles that offered a bit of flexibility and some extra income however it was when Mum became Advertising  Editor / Manager with Bishopbriggs and Kirkintilloch Herald that she came in to her own, thriving on being out and about, meeting and chatting with lots of local business people and she was able to demonstrate her business acumen and ability to write and edit. 

Around that time, another quick example of Mum’s independent thought and action and ability to get what she wanted was when she decided she would choose her own car, rather than have to put up with what had been bought for her previously. With 4 boys and a dog to ferry about the choice was obvious. A two-seater, British racing green,MG midget with a fibreglass e type front. To be fair we all loved it and would take turns being driven in the passenger seat  up front and, as it was before health and safety and seatbelts, the others  would  try to squeeze into the bucket seats or as we got bigger sit on the boot with our feet  on the bucket seat holding on to the seat in front! Mum subsequently had triumph spitfires , a MK3 and then a Mark 4 which I was more than happy about because at 17 once I passed my test, I was allowed toborrow them.

In a relatively short space of time, Mum’s four boys were all grown up, had partners of their own, got married, had left home.  Daphne adopted her daughters in law in to the family, as if they were ‘the daughters she had never had’, getting fully involved in their decision making, wedding plans and preparations. I think it must have been difficult for her to have to ‘let go’ and go from a busy houseful, with her being in constant demand , then in a few short years see everyone move on and away,  having to rely on more occasional visits and calls, made even worse when the family enevitably spread out geographically over time.

With Dad retiring and Mum less in demand, they weren’t idle, ensuring their elderly parents were cared for until they passed and pursuing their many interests. Both got fully involved in the Scottish Society for Psychical Research based at Glasgow University.  

Mum was passionate about the society and her research, she was the editor of their periodical and with Dad they, collated, wrote articles, and edited the periodical whilst carrying out research, delivering lectures and being on the committee alongside their friend Professor Archie Roy. Dad eventually being President of the Society and Mum a key committee member.

Daphne – Granny
Daphne had ten grandchildren and she and dad loved hearing about all of them and relished spending time with them. Granny would share stories of her family, her childhood and the past and egged on by the grandkids, would tell stories of her ‘naughty boys’ and what they got up to, in return, when she stopped for breath, she would love hearing of all the grandchildren’s triumphs and tribulations, hopes and fears.  

As both a Mum and a Granny, she was both a warrior and a worrier. She would fight for her family, for what she felt was right, she wanted to protect us, do the best for for us all but whilst appearing at times fierce or warrior like when in battle mode, she was also a worrier and constantly worried about us all, needing the reassurance her ‘brood’ as she often called us, were doing ok. She offered advice, guidance and for those that needed it or asked for it, financial support. 

I think we all enjoyed for many years the benefits of ‘Granny’ money at Christmas and for Birthdays etc. 

Mum and Dad or Granny and Grandpa were married for 56 years, almost of all that time living at 131 Stirling gardens Bishopbriggs. 

My Dad John, died nearly 10 years ago on the 24/07/2014 at 81 and for Mum things were never really the same. She missed him terribly , they were soul mates and they had done pretty much everything together.

She relied more on family visits and phone calls, filled her time, feeding the birds and wildlife, going to her lunch clubs, listening to music and watching dramas on TV and taking with daily trips to the ‘village’ to pop in to the bank, do some shopping, go for costa coffee and an almond slice always finding someone she could chat to, put the world to rights with or just have a good blether. 

She wanted to be independent, but independence was slipping away from her as she grew more frail. She had to become more reliant on friends, family, and carers. When she could no longer drive, she used taxis to ferry her around and she would regularly share her experiences of what the taxi drivers had said or done. It seemed an eventful and interesting time for both parties.



Daphne – Great Granny 

Eventually in June 2021, after several falls, care packages and hospitalisation and Covid, Mum had to go into care. 
Leaving 131 Stirling drive was in many respects an end of another era as she had lived there for over 60 years.Inevitably she was sad, a bit lost and missed her home.

Four Hills Care Home, Fir hill Unit, Room 118 became home.
Her time there began with a COVID quarantine for two weeks (including her birthday) before she was allowed to explore. 

The Home seemed to become familiar as she believed she had identified family links to photographs on the walls and she even renamed zones of the building "Peebles Hydro" was the wet room, "The University" was anywhere beyond the dining room and of course "The Dungeons" were downstairs. 

Room 118 was her personal space, where she filled the windowsill with photographs of her expanding family including the 5 new great-grandchildren as they were born. 
She was cared for by the staff, she enjoyed family phone calls and visits, she liked the ample supplies of coffee and the treats from her private cake tin and sweetie drawerthat Ali and Jo replenished on a regular basis. 

As she became more frail and less independent she seemed to bring her guard down and I was able to share how we all loved her and she has happy to say she loved us all and how important her family were to her. 
I will cherish how pleased she looked when we were allowed to take our dogs Jessie and Joey in to say a hello on our recent visits and when I saw the smile on her face in the photo taken when she met her great granddaughter Isla when Jen and Jaq were up there for a visit in March.




So to conclude 

She started as Daphne, became Mum, then Granny and laterally was a Great Granny (albeit she refused to use that title as it made her feel too old.)

Daphne has led a long, varied and interesting life. As they say nowadays, a life well lived. 
She loved, was loved, is loved and will continue to be loved. 

God willing, I hope and pray she is now at peace, happy, pain free and perhaps surrounded by all those she loved who have already left us both the humans and pets alike.