Three's company as first NHS triplets reunited for birthdays

Published on Monday 23 June 2008 11:22

WHEN sisters Pamela, Leona and Angela Currie were delivered, they were the toast of the town – they were the first triplets born on the NHS in Edinburgh.

Now the trio have got together to celebrate another milestone; their 60th birthday.

The sisters were reunited on Saturday for a party, with Pamela Simpson flying in from Canada as a big surprise for her siblings.

They were born at the Simpson's Maternity Unit in the Capital on June 26, 1948 – just 21 days after the official foundation of NHS Scotland.

Their birth caused a considerable stir, and the Evening News headed to the house in Witson Crescent to take a snap of the three bouncing babies.

Later, their fame saw them hired for publicity stunts, such as the opening of the city's first multiplex in the 1960s, when the three girls were asked to come along and promote the three screens at the old ABC cinema on Lothian Road.

On Saturday, the sisters had a birthday party at Beecraigs Country Park, near Bathgate, West Lothian, when Pamela made a surprise appearance.

Angela said: "We were having a party with about 50 family and friends. Pamela had sent us a letter saying we should expect a parcel from her.

"Then my husband came onto the stage and said the parcel had arrived. We were shocked when Pamela came out from behind all these people.

"It was a great surprise and lovely to be together again."

Her husband, John Peerless, 60, a legal department worker with the Scottish Government, had arranged the reunion without his wife knowing.

The couple, who live in Livingston, have three children – Andrew, 34, and twins, Catherine and Steven, 32 – and five grandchildren.

Pamela said: "It was nine years since I was last back in Edinburgh. My sisters last came over to Canada two years ago.

"We haven't spent my birthdays together over the last 40 years so it was very special.

"We're here for two weeks so we'll get the chance to see Edinburgh again. My husband was originally from Leith so he wants to go back and see the changes."

Pamela married her husband David, 65, in 1968 and they moved to Canada the following year. The couple, who don't have children, lived in Ontaria but have now moved to nearby Arthur.

Leona Reid said: "It was lovely to be together again. We've always been very close even though we've lived apart. "

Leona works as shop assistant in Livingston and has two sons, George, 37, and Paul, 35. Now divorced, she has also three grandchildren and lives with her sister, Angela.

The triplets attended St Cuthbert's Primary School and then St Thomas' secondary school.

Their brother, Keith Currie, 62, said he had always been proud of his sisters.

"It is amazing to think they were the first triplets born on the NHS in Edinburgh, and possibly the first in Scotland."