Appreciation: Doris Littlejohn

Doris Littlejohn, or “Wee Doris” as she was affectionately known, was in fact a giant of a person in every respect – in what she achieved and what she gave to others.

She began life on 19 March 1935 in Glasgow, in a tenement flat with a shared toilet on the landing and weekly trips to the bath house, until her parents were given a council house when she was 16. Her parents were bright but had no opportunity for further education. They were of modest means but, realising that Doris was bright, determined that whatever sacrifices it took, they would find a way for her to go to university. Doris never forgot how much they did for her and her younger sister Ann, and all her life she was driven by a desire to see equality of opportunity for all.

Doris studied at Glasgow University while undertaking her legal apprenticeship with Russell & Duncan, graduating in 1956. She was in private practice and distinguished herself as a court practitioner, until in 1976 she was invited by Lord Mayfield (Ian MacDonald), then President of Industrial Tribunals, to become a tribunal chairman. She became the first female chairman in the UK.

She served as a chairman in Glasgow, travelling there from her home in Bridge of Allan daily, while raising her three daughters and looking after her husband, who was a lawyer in Stirling but suffered crippling rheumatoid arthritis. She became President of Tribunals in 1990 until retirement in 2000. She successfully combined a full family life with an impressive and inspirational legal career and an enviable reputation as a hostess due to her excellent cookery skills and knowledge and enjoyment of good wine.

Her dedicated public service was recognised in 1998 when she was made a Commander of the British Empire, and in 2015 she received the Saltire Society Outstanding Women of Scotland Award. The University of Stirling awarded her an honorary doctorate in 1993. These awards are in stark contrast to the way many people will remember her as a sharp, insightful thinker who was very modest and loved nothing more than making time for people and extending hospitality to friends, family and work colleagues.

In an active retirement she was a non-executive director of Law at Work, and a Citizens’ Advice Bureau volunteer. She was a member of the Leggatt Committee set up by the Lord Chancellor to review the UK tribunal system. She also served on a Scottish Executive review of post-mortem practice

in Scotland, in particular in relation to organ retention; and on the BBC Advisory Council, the Human Genetics Advisory Commission, and the General Council of the BBC. She chaired the court of the University of Stirling, the Forth Valley Primary Health NHS Care Trust, and was a vice chair of the MacRobert Arts Centre at Stirling University Campus. She also travelled extensively, visiting China, Seattle and New Zealand to see some of the many friends she had collected throughout her life.

Many tributes have been paid to “Wee Doris”, which almost without exception recognise her as an inspirational figure, who was modest, yet warm and hospitable with an infectious laugh and an unstinting curiosity and ability to engage with people and welcome them to share delicious home-made food, good wine and good company. She will be sorely missed by friends, family, colleagues and the many organisations which benefitted from her sharp intelligence and quiet wisdom.

Doris lived life absolutely to the full and passed peacefully away on 16 October 2023. She is survived by three daughters, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.