Victoria Alexandrina Drummond, MBE (14 October 1894 – 25 December 1978), was the first woman marine engineer in the UK and the first woman member of Institute of Marine Engineers. In World War II she served at sea as an engineering officer in the British Merchant Navy and received awards for bravery under enemy fire.
Childhood
Victoria Drummond was born on 14 October 1894 at Errol, Perthshire, Scotland. Her father was Captain Malcolm Drummond of Megginch, Groom in Waiting to Queen Victoria and Deputy Lieutenant of Perthshire. Her mother, Geraldine Margaret Tyssen-Amherst was the daughter of William Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney.
She had two sisters, Jean and Frances, and a younger brother, John Drummond, 15th Baron Strange. She was named Victoria for Queen Victoria, who was one of her godmothers. Drummond and her siblings were brought up in both the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church. All four worked as children: growing vegetables and flowers to sell and keeping poultry. Drummond's speciality was hand-churning butter. Their privileged upbringing was straitened after one pair of grandparents lost a fortune in investments in 1906.
One of Drummond's grandmothers turned wood and ivory and belonged to the Worshipful Company of Turners. Drummond herself became a prizewinning model maker, making her own toys that were shown in exhibitions and won prizes in competitions.
Drummond used to visit the engineering works of Robert Morton and Sons in Errol, which built steam-powered and petrol-engined lorries and buses. As a young girl she asked Mr Morton how she could learn to be a marine engineer and go to sea. Morton may or may not have taken the young girl seriously, but he told her to serve an apprenticeship, find a shop with a vacancy and start at the beginning, serve her time and then find a ship that would give her a berth as an engineer.
In February 1913, she was presented at court to King George V and Queen Mary as a debutante.
Apprenticeship
In 1915, Drummond turned 21, and her father encouraged her to choose her own career. She repeated her ambition to be a marine engineer. From 18 October 1916, she was apprenticed at the Northern Garage, South Street, Perth. Her wage as a first year apprentice was three shillings a week, from which sixpence was deducted for National Insurance so her net wage was half a crown. In her second year her wage before National Insurance was six shillings. Her foreman, a Mr Malcolm, who had worked in Clyde shipyards, gone to sea and risen to be a Chief Engineer at sea, supported her training. On three evenings a week a teacher from Dundee Technical College (now Abertay University) taught her maths and engineering.
Mr Malcolm supported Drummond's training, but in 1918 the garage dismissed him for drunkenness. Drummond took this as the right time to move on and resigned from the garage. Her father arranged her an introduction to the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company in Dundee, which took her on in its engine and boiler works at Lilybank in Dundee. She started as a pattern maker for metal casting, and in 1919 was promoted to the finishing shop. She joined the Women's Engineering Society and completed her apprenticeship in 1920 after which she was elected a graduate of the Institute of Marine Engineers. She stayed on at Caledon as a journeyman, later transferring to the drawing office. In 1922, Caledon suffered a decline in orders and laid off many workers, including Drummond who left on 7 July.
Early years at sea
Anchises
Early in Drummond's time at Caledon, the founder W.B. Thompson introduced her and her parents to Henry Wortley, a director of Blue Funnel Line. Wortley offered Drummond the promise of a position as an engineer at sea when she completed her apprenticeship. When Caledon gave her notice in 1922, Drummond wrote to Wortley to take up his offer. Unknown to Drummond, Wortley had died in 1919. However, Lawrence Holt honoured Wortley's promise and invited her to Liverpool for an interview.
Blue Funnel employed Drummond initially in its engineering record office in Liverpool on a salary of £12 a month. About a month later, on 25 August, she was instructed to sign on the passenger liner for a trial trip from Liverpool to Glasgow as an Assistant Engineer. On 2 September, she signed on Anchises again as Tenth Engineer. The salary of £10 a month was £2 less than the company had paid her ashore. A Christmas card sent by Drummond to the Women's Engineering Society from the Anchises in 1922 survives in the WES archives. She served on the ship until 1924, making four voyages to Australia and one to China.