Victoria Drummond

A god-daughter of Queen Victoria and born at Megginch Castle, near Perth, Victoria amazed her family by making her career as a marine engineer, training at what is now the University of Abertay Dundee – her plaque is placed at the main entrance of the University in Bell Street.

She began her career in 1916 as an apprentice in a Perth garage, spending three evenings a week at the former ‘Bell Street Tech’.

In 1918, she moved to the Lilybank Foundry, part of the Caledon Shipyard, then sailed as a fully-qualified engineer for the first time on SS Anchises in 1922. She sailed the world on cargo ships and tramp steamers and, more than once, saved her ship from sinking.

Image of SS Anchises, the first ship on which Victoria Drummond sailed. Copyright Scottish Maritime Museum. Licensor www.scran.ac.uk