Ray Richard
Biography
Around 1820, three young families settled on Eilean Nan Ròn (a small island off the north coast of Sutherland) as a direct consequence of the Strathnaver Clearances. Ray Richard's (nee Mackay) ancestors were amongst them, and she has maintained an enduring connection to the island ever since. Ray was born and brought up in Wick, but from an early age she spent every summer on Island Roan, the birthplace of her mother.
Ray joined the staff of the Bignold Cottage Hospital in 1949 as its first secretary, only a year after the NHS was founded. She used her organisational skills to bring order to the inpatient and outpatient records as well as undertaking many other duties.
Ray was also Wick's first post-war Herring Queen.
