An inter-War O.B.E. group of five awarded to Lady Medical Officer Dr. Mary J. Were, Colonial Medical Service

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Civil) Officer’s 2nd type badge, silver-gilt; British War and Victory Medals (M. J. Ahern.); Jubilee 1935, unnamed as issued; Coronation 1937, unnamed as issued, mounted for wear, nearly extremely fine (5) £300-£400

O.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1936: Mary Josephine, Mrs. Were, L.R.C.P., Colonial Medical Service, Lady Medical Officer, Federated Malay States.

Mary Josephine Were, née Ahern, was born on 24 September 1889 and qualified as a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians in Ireland in 1913. On 1 November 1916 she was contracted for 12 months as a Civilian Surgeon attached to the Royal Army Medical Corps, and served during the Great War as a Civilian Lady Doctor in Salonika from 1 November 1917, predominately with 62 General Hospital. She was demobilised on 5 May 1919, and married Lieutenant Vivian Were, Coldstream Guards.

Dr. Mary Were joined the Malayan Medical Service in 1921 and in the following year was appointed to the Infant Welfare Centre in Kuala Lumpur; over the next two decades the infant death rate in the city was greatly reduced, thanks to the tireless work of Dr. Were and the Centre. She appears on the roll for both the 1935 Jubilee Medal, and the 1937 Coronation Medal, both as Lady Medical Officer, Malayan Medical Service, and for her services was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, being presented with the insignia by the High Commissioner, Mr. A. S. Small, on 18 June 1936. Retiring to the Cotswolds, she died in 1975.

Sold with copied research, including a photographic image of the recipient.

Note: Mrs. Were would presumably have been issued with a 1st type O.B.E.; it is not known why the badge in this group is a 2nd type badge.