Tribute to former South Tyneside doctor and charity worker as Blue Plaque unveiled in her memory

Mayor of South Tyneside, Coun Norman Dick and Mayoress Jean Williamson with, right, Father John Gibbons and Michael Dickson of St Gregory's R C Church, with the Blue Plaque to Dr Anne Seymour.

The Mayor of South Tyneside paid tribute to a leading doctor and charity worker with the unveiling of a permanent memorial to her life.

A commemorative Blue Plaque was unveiled to mark the life’s work of Dr Anne Seymour who ran the accident and emergency department at the old Ingham Infirmary in South Shields for many years.

Dr Seymour was also renowned for her charity work – supporting refugees and asylum seekers.

A blue plaque unveiled in honour of Dr Anne Seymour

The plaque was unveiled by the Mayor of South Tyneside, Coun Norman Dick, at the site of the former hospital on Westoe Road, South Shields, as Dr Seymour’s friends and loved ones looked on.

The Mayor said: ”This heritage plaque is to pay tribute to Anne Seymour’s contribution to South Tyneside.

“To have such outsanding people contributing selflessly and leaving an amazing legacy of memories from the many people who knew her personally or the many patients who came across her, is a testament to her life’s work.

“This blue plaque is to ensure Anne’s memory is preserved in the town she contributed much to.”

Crowds gather for the unveiling of Anne Seymour Blue Plaque at the old Ingham Infirmary building on Westoe Road

The plaque has been funded by parishioners from St Gregory’s Church and her friends and is part of a commemorative plaque scheme run by South Tyneside Council.

After qualifying as a doctor in 1959, Dr Seymour took her skills to Biafra, where she helped before, during and after the civil war, before coming to South Shields in 1976.

After 13 years Anne left the Ingham Infirmary and spend eight years at a mission hospital in Cameroon.

She returned to South Shields to retire in 1996, where she became heavily involved with South Tyneside Asylum Seeker and Refugee Church Help and the Church of the Living Waters.

The blue plaque in South Shields in honour of South Tyneside doctor Anne Seymour

She died in 2016 at the age of 80.

Michael Dickson, chair of St Gregory’s finance commitee, said: “Anne applied her professional skill unsparingly and any free time was used helping those she saw in need. She genuinely cared for people and was utterly without ego. We are all the better for knowing her and continue to miss her.”