Victoria Bruce

The Honourable Victoria Alexandrina Katherine Bruce (1898–1951) was the first woman to be appointed governor of a Scottish woman's prison in 1946 when she became governor of Duke Street Prison in Glasgow. Victoria Alexandrina Katherine Bruce was born 13 September 1898 at Kennet House in Clackmannan, Scotland. She was the daughter of Alexander Hugh Bruce, 6th Lord Balfour of Burleigh, and Lady Katherine Eliza Gordon. She became interested in social work and worked as a voluntary librarian in the boy's wing of HM Prison Wandsworth between 1928 and 1931. She was then appointed as a Probation Officer in the juvenile courts in London. In 1937, Bruce was appointed as deputy governor of the Aylesbury Borstal. She then moved to Manchester to be the deputy governor of Strangeways prison.