DOI:10.1111/j.1471-1842.2011.00938.x

Obituary

M. M. (Mollie) Raymer, 1916–2010

Members of the organising committee of the First

International Congress of Medical Librarianship, London

1953. Mollie Raymer second from right.

Mollie Raymer was born into a seafaring family

in Sunderland while her father was serving in the

Merchant Navy in the Dardanelles (World War 1).

She was educated at church schools in Sunderland

and Southampton. When she left school, uncertain

about what she wanted to do – except that she

wanted a career rather than to get married and

raise a family – she spent 6 months working

(unpaid) in Southampton University College

Library. She then enjoyed living in London during

2 years study at University College School of

Librarianship. After 18 months back at Southamp-

ton UCL and living at home she was appointed

Assistant Librarian at the Royal College of Veteri-

nary Surgeons in 1939. At the same time she

enrolled in evening classes at Birkbeck College

for a part-time degree in History. As for many

British people at that time the outbreak of war

was a life-changing event. Mollie gives a vivid

description of May 1941 when the RCVS was

damaged by flying debris from a land mine in

Red Lion Square and in the same night’s raids the

mixed club where she was living in Bedford Place

was also fire-bombed.

ª 2011 The authors. Health Info

156

‘I went round on Sunday morning to find my library

coming down the stairs … [not being affluent

enough to afford a hotel]. I said ‘Well I’m going

round to my library to sleep in the President’s room.

That was the only room with a carpet. I thought I

had better ring the Registrar ⁄Librarian[who had

moved his staff out to Wembley at the start of the

war] The College occupied 9–10 Red Lion Square

and had some residential accommodation. So I rang

Dr Bullock and said I’d come round with a few

friends [to take shelter] … and Mrs Williams and

Mrs Phythian, the housekeepers, would provide tea

and shaving water for the men.’ ‘Oh’ said Dr Bull-

ock ‘there are men in the party?’ ‘Yes Dr Bullock,

four men and three girls’ I waited and then he said

‘Well there aren’t enough girls to go round!’ and I

was absolutely astonished because he didn’t look

like that kind of person … we ate in restaurants …by the end of the week we needed a bath … I found

it good fun. In those days I’d rather be frightened

than bored.’

At the outbreak of war, with her marine back-

ground she wanted to join the WRNS (Wrens).

Unable to type, cook or drive she was still able to

contribute to the essential work of Bletchley Park

by, as she put it, ‘minding machines for 3 years.’

In common with many others who worked at

Bletchley she received a medal and certificate

recognising her contribution to the Enigma

Bombe, in 2009. Despite her struggles with

bureaucracy and having little in common with the

young women amongst whom she lived and

worked on shifts she later said

‘I didn’t regret it. I couldn’t have faced people after

the war if I hadn’t done something … I was fright-

ened by the Blitz and bored by the Wrens.’

(See also Raymer, M. M. The Royal College of

Veterinary Surgeons in wartime (1939–1945) and

post war. Veterinary History 2009, 15, 57–61).

rmation and Libraries Journal ª 2011 Health Libraries Group

Health Information and Libraries Journal, 28, pp.156–157

Obituary 157

After the war she was encouraged by Cyril

Barnard to attend the LA UC & R section meet-

ings and eventually the LA Medical Section meet-

ings. Mollie Raymer was the last surviving

member of the committee which organised the

first ICML in London in 1953, alongside Cyril

Barnard, Lesley Morton, William Bishop, Charles

Marmoy, Hilda Clarke, Noel Poynter and William

LeFanu. After a spell living in the flat above the

‘Vets’ she fulfilled her desire to get out of London

by buying a cottage in Aylesbury which she shared

with her mother. In 1959, this led to a post work-

ing with Dennis Arnold who had set up a new

library for ICI Paint Division, and ultimately to

her last post before retirement (1979) at ICI Bill-

ingham. She said that she enjoyed ICI despite

‘having the disadvantage of not being a chemist

and of being a woman.’ Mollie felt that ‘now peo-

ple are apt to forget that the librarian’s role is to

get the right book to the right person at the right

time.’ She was also able to establish her profes-

sional position by pointing out to one chairman at

RCVS, who asked her to take a letter, that she

‘didn’t do shorthand’. Despite working in a largely

male environment she successfully persuaded her

superiors and library committee that her knowl-

edge and advice was sound. ‘The Vets were nice

chaps but had no idea of how to run a library.’

She admitted that her library committee came off

best on one occasion when they refused her

request to replace a 30-year-old edition on the

anatomy of the cat on the grounds that the anat-

omy of the cat had not changed in 30 years. How-

ever an enquiry about whether a goat has an

appendix was never solved in her lifetime. She

was given the task of indexing the Veterinary

Record on the grounds that she had complained

about it more than anyone else and so had better

take on the task herself and she continued for

36 years until computers were adopted.

Throughout her career Mollie had gradually

been aiming to be back ‘home’ in the North and

ª 2011 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal ªHealth Information and Libraries Journal, 28, pp.156–157

this was finally achieved when she settled in

Corbridge, at first in a holiday cottage, then in

retirement as an active member of the local com-

munity, challenging the local library’s interlibrary

loan service to borrow materials for her. Research

into her family history absorbed her sharp intellect

even when less physically mobile; she passed onto

her cousins a meticulously arranged set of family

records. A long time member of the Morris Minor

Owners Club she eventually gave up driving when

her beloved van would no longer pass its MOT.

Her other interests ranged from the Shipwrecked

Fishermen and Mariners Society, Sutton Hoo

Society, Bletchley Park Trust, The National Canine

Defence League to the Corbridge Gardening

Society.

A quirky, lively personality, Mollie Raymer was

an example of that generation of medical librarians

of the mid-20th century who overcame social dis-

advantages by their wide-ranging knowledge and

hard work. Many of them remained single but

formed lasting personal friendships from within

their professional circle.

Recalling hearing of the outbreak of war during

a service in St Martin in the Fields she wrote

‘I hope that I have served my profession, my com-

munity and my country as well as I have been able’.

She maintained to the end that ‘I’m not a dear old

lady’ – which she certainly was not!’

Valerie Ferguson

Formerly Medical Librarian,

John Rylands University Library of Manchester,

UK

E-mail: vaferguson@supanet.com

Clare Boulton

Librarian, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons,

London, UK

2011 Health Libraries Group