Tributes paid to Dr Flemming

Julie Gilbert • Published 8 Sep 2010 12:00

The pioneering doctor who looked after the health of Clydebank’s industrial workforce at the height of its powers, has sadly passed away.

Dr John Flemming - known to his friends as Jock - died on Thursday aged 89.

Thousands of Bankies will have known him from one of his various roles, which included being the doctor for Singer’s, John Brown’s, and Turner’s asbestos factory - or as their former GP, who also delivered many of the area’s babies.

His daughter Margaret MacGregor this week paid tribute to her father as being a great man who loved his work and the people of Clydebank.

She said: “He came to Clydebank in 1948 and joined his wife’s uncle’s practice at 640 Dumbarton Road, Dalmuir.

“He was a GP in Clydebank for thirty-seven years and for thirty of those years he took responsibility for looking after the workforce in Singer’s.

“He also looked after the workers at John Brown’s shipyard.

“He did medicals on them and ran first aid courses and if someone had a problem at work he would deal with that.

“He delivered a lot of babies - around a hundred a year - and he remembered every one of them.

“He never lost one baby or one mother.

“He was highly respected in the area and he wanted to stay in the area after he retired.”

Dr Flemming grew up on the southside of the city but moved to Clydebank in 1948, only two years after marrying his wife Mary in 1946.

They had two daughters - Dorothy and Margaret - and also six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

He retired from his work as a GP in the mid-1980s but continued to live in the Dalmuir area.

He died of pneumonia after a short illness.

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This article appeared in Clydebank Post 08 Sep 10

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