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| Mary Mitchell in 1933 |
The Andy Warhol quotation on “fifteen minutes of fame” has become almost derogatory about celebrity status. Yet, for many ordinary people, they can be briefly thrust into the spotlight for all the right reasons, and some of these may be life changing, or life saving.
In the days before that short piece on the regional news or local radio, the newspaper was the dominant source of sharing a story and giving someone that fifteen minutes in the spotlight.
The ‘down side’, if you want to call it that, is that after that brief appearance in newspaper columns, these folk just disappear from media interest. When I come across these stories, wonderful though they may be, that is what saddens me. What happened to these people in later life?
Do their descendants today know of their actions that earned them public acclaim?
While researching those who sprang to the rescue of others, I came across another tale. This one only appears to have featured in The Courier and Evening Telegraph but it attracted me because central to it was a Methilhill teenager, 19-year-old Mary Mitchell.
There is no clue as to where Mary hailed from in Methilhill or any details about her family, but on Christmas Eve 1933 she went from being a Levenmouth lass to a Tayside hero.
The drama unfolded at a grand property called ‘Stormont’ in West Park Road, Dundee, the home of an 82-year-old widow from Blairgowrie, Jane Panton.
A rug had been draped against a wall in the kitchen, accidentally tripping the switch on the iron and, eventually, fire broke out. It quickly spread through the kitchen then into the bathroom on the floor above.
Mary was roused from her sleep by the smoke and sprang into action, waking Mrs Panton and her nurse/housekeeper Miss Lawson.
In an interview with The Courier, Mary said: “When I ran to the front bedroom where Mrs Panton and Miss Lawson sleep, I banged on the door but could not get them to answer. The smoke was thick and I had to run back to my own bedroom, where I was able to get some fresh air at the open window.
“Three times I ran to their bedroom but could not get them to hear me . The dense smoke in the passage always drove me back … when I heard Miss Lawson’s voice.”
The women were unable to get downstairs to call the fire brigade so Mary and Miss Lawson helped the old lady out to a balcony and comparative safety.
“How they did it is a mystery,” Firemaster Weir told The Courier later. “It must have needed superhuman strength.”
The women raised the alarm from the balcony and the emergency services were duly summoned with all three being rescued thanks to breathing apparatus and chemical extinguishers.
The blaze and rescue made headline news, “Women’s peril in Dundee fire – Smoke cuts off staircase” and “82-year-old lady carried to balcony”, with the paper declaring: “But for the timely awakening of Miss Mary Mitchell, the household would have been in the gravest danger of their lives.”
So what happened to Methilhill's Mary Mitchell, that teenage hero? There may be more stories to tell.
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