Located on an east-facing hillside on the southern edge of the town, Inverkeithing Cemetery has a dramatic setting. The cemetery overlooks the Firth of Forth towards Edinburgh. Looking south, the towering pillars of the Queensferry Crossing loom on the horizon. The regular Edinburgh-bound trains heading to and from the Forth Bridge break the silence, as does the nearby M90 motorway. The headstone of Maggie Dickie is worn but still legible. She died on November 6 at 63 Hope Street, Inverkeithing, aged twenty-four, after a three-day battle with pneumonia secondary to influenza.
Maggie Dickie was born at Ferry Soll Cottage, Inverkeithing, on July 14 1893, to John, a Carter and Jessie (nee Parker). She was the couple’s second child.
When the 1901 Census was taken, Maggie still lived at Soll Cottage with her parents, elder sister Annie, her parents, and three boarders. Maggie was aged seven and attended school. Ten years later, the Dickie Family had relocated to 63 Hope Street. Maggie, aged seventeen, had left school and was employed in a local paper mill.
Maggie was briefly employed at the nearby Rosyth Dockyards in January 1917. At her death, she worked as a newsagent’s shop assistant.
Maggie did not marry. Her father was present at her deathbed and registered her passing.
Jessie and John were interred with Maggie following their deaths in 1936 and 1937 consecutively.
Sources: Ancestry, Scotland’s People
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