Anderson , Mary Irene , b 1920 , teacher and missionary

Mary Irene Anderson (more generally known by her middle name of Irene) was born in Scotland and was educated at the Girls' High School in Doncaster and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she studied geography, graduating in 1941. She worked as Geography Mistress at Kirkby Stephen Grammar school, Westmorland, 1941-1944. Wishing to work as a missionary, Miss Anderson then underwent two years of training at the Church of Scotland Women's Missionary College in Edinburgh from 1944-1946, followed by a short period running the Church of Scotland Club for Fishergirls, until December 1947. In March 1948 she then moved to the Gold Coast and took a post as Geography Mistress at Achimota School, remaining there until 1953 when she was appointed Headmistress of the Aburi Girls' Secondary School, a Scottish Mission Girls' School, where she stayed until her retirement in 1970.