Winifred Rushforth

Dr (Margaret) Winifred Rushforth OBE (1885-1983) (née Bartholomew) was a Jungian psychoanalyst who spent much of her career in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Early life

Rushforth was born in West Lothian, Scotland, in 1885 and educated at the Edinburgh Ladies' College. She was a member of the Bartholomew family, farmers on the Hopetoun Estate since about 1650.

Rushforth graduated with an MB ChB from the University of Edinburgh in 1908.

Career in India

On graduating, she set sail for India. There she later met her husband, stockbroker Frank Rushforth, and she spent the best part of the next 20 years as a surgeon and hospital administrator, specialising in women's health.

Career in the UK

She became very interested in psychology and, on returning from India, spent some time training at the Tavistock Clinic, before setting up a private practice in Edinburgh in 1929. In 1939, during the burgeoning of the Child Guidance Movement, she established the Davidson Clinic with the aim of bringing family therapy to the community.

Wellspring, Sempervivum and the Salisbury Centre

In 1978, she was instrumental in setting up Wellspring as a successor to the Davidson Clinic. In the late 1970s, she established a movement entitled Sempervivum which brought together free thinkers at annual Easter Schools.

Dr Rushforth gave regular lectures at the Salisbury Centre, in Salisbury Road, Edinburgh, until her late 90s. She ran weekly dream groups and "Search for God" groups from her house at 11 Lauder Road, Edinburgh, almost until the time of her death.

Her daughter, Dr Diana Bates, continued Rushforth's work and was Director of Wellspring in Edinburgh for some years.

Correspondence with Jung

Rushforth corresponded with Carl Gustav Jung towards the end of his life - although they never met.

Friendship with Sir Laurens van der Post

For many years, Rushforth was a close friend of Sir Laurens van der Post. She was fascinated, in particular, by his work on the Bushmen of the Kalahari and kept a carved wooden statuette of a bushman, by the contemporary sculptor Christopher Hall, in the drawing room of her home in Edinburgh. Her portrait in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery features the sculpture.

It was Van der Post who first told Prince Charles about Dr Rushforth's work on dreams and psychoanalysis, and urged the Prince to meet her.

Friendship with Prince Charles

In the early 1980s, Rushforth's book Something is Happening was gifted to Prince Charles by Alick Bartholomew (a relative of Rushforth's) who assisted Prince Charles on the re-decoration of Highgrove House.

In March 1983, Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited Dr Rushforth in Edinburgh. They spent an hour discussing Dr Rushforth's theories, on dreams and spirituality, over afternoon tea. Dr Diana Bates, who was also present, later remarked that it was evident how very thoroughly Prince Charles had read Dr Rushforth's books and how deeply he had thought about spiritual matters.

In the months that followed, Prince Charles wrote regularly to Dr Rushforth and sent her hand-written copies of his forthcoming speeches, for her interest.

When Rushforth died, in August 1983, Prince Charles was said to be very taken aback. "If only I had got to know her sooner!" he is said to have exclaimed.

Memorials

Sir Laurens van der Post attended Dr Rushforth's Memorial Service in Old St Paul's Church, Edinburgh, as Prince Charles's representative. The service was conducted by the then Bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway. Father Jock Dalrymple of the Tavistock Clinic, gave the eulogy.

In 2002, a memorial sculpture in Edinburgh's George Square Gardens by the sculptor Christopher Hall was dedicated by Prince Charles.

A 1982 portrait of Rushforth by the artist Victoria Crowe is held in the collection of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Publications

• Something is Happening: Spiritual Analysis and Depth Psychology in the New Age (Turnstone Press, 1981)
• Ten Decades of Happenings (Gateway Books, 1984)(autobiography)
• Life's Currency: Time, Money and Energy : An Anthology of Shorter Writings (Atrium, 1986)