UNUSUAL JOB FOR WOMAN
Harbourmaster At Devon Port (B V SUSAN VAUGHAN} A woman I met recently has made a very distinguished—although different—career in the world of men. She is 49-year-old Miss Agnes Russell, who recently became the first woman harbourmaster in England, and for all I know, in the world. She got the job at Newton Ferrers, Devon, in competition with three men. At first, the harbour committee was doubtful that a woman would nave the necessary qualifications for such work as supervising the laying down of moorings, collecting dues from visiting yachts and keeping an eye on speedboats that exceed the speed limit But after hearing about Miss Russell’s life they were convinced she was equal to the job. She is the daughter of a landowner. The family springs from the same line as the Duke of Bedford and has the same motto (“What will be will be”). As a girl, she rode an Arab mare every morning, owned her own boat when she was 13, and later raced a seven-ton cutter, which was also her home for three years. She was a Wren in the war and held the difficult job of coxwain—and admiral’s coxwain at that. Afterwards, she became a port officer, a person who supplies information about harbour conditions to visiting ships. Now Miss Russell goes about her work dressed in a windcheater, long skirt and a harbourmaster’s cap. She patrols the harbour in one of the three dinghies she owns. In the bow of the dinghy is her "crew”— three Welsh terriers, Bridget, Terry and Tommy. The day’s work over, she and her dogs return home to Miss Russell’s bungalow, "The Mariners.” She doesn’t like cooking, but is fond of decorating and is proud of her pink bathroom. To relax she plays the piano or ’cello (which she once studied at the Royal Academy of Music). Her favourite music? Sea songs, of course.
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Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29401, 31 December 1960, Page 2
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319UNUSUAL JOB FOR WOMAN Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29401, 31 December 1960, Page 2
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