The granddaughter of Bermuda civil rights hero EF Gordon has been awarded an honorary doctorate from his old university in Scotland.

Veteran BBC newsreader Moira Stewart was honoured along with former Formula 1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart and Live Aid co-founder Midge Ure at Edinburgh University.

Ms Stewart, who became the first black newsreader on British TV in 1981, was honoured for her services to broadcasting.

Dr. Gordon graduated from Edinburgh University with a medical degree in 1918 and practised in the Scottish Highlands before moving to Dominica and finally to Bermuda.

He fought against discrimination in Bermuda and became a member of parliament.

He was the founding father of the Bermuda Workers Association, the forerunner of the BIU and played a major role in protests over the exclusion of black Bermudians from Queen Elizabeth?s II coronation tour in 1953.

Accepting the degree on Friday, Scots-born Ms Stewart said: ?This is a precious gift and I owe you a huge debt.

?You make me feel like I have come home.? Professor John Savill, head of the university?s College of Medicine, told the audience at the ceremony: ?True to a family background of exceptional talent, Moira?s career has been outstanding.? Ms Stewart is the child of Marjorie, daughter of Dr. Gordon and his wife Clara, from whom he later separated.

Both were studying medicine in Edinburgh when they met, although Clara gave up her course to support her husband?s studies and career.

Marjorie married Barbadian lawyer Harold Stuart and both Ms Stewart and her sister Sandra were born while the couple were living in Edinburgh in the 1940s.

Ms Stewart last year featured in the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are?, when famous faces dug into their family trees.

Ms Stewart said then: ?I met Clara very briefly before she died and the strongest impression is that she was very kind, but remote, gorgeously elegant, but distant.

?She must have been pretty near to being the first female medical student. But she never completed her studies. Edgar graduated, but she didn?t.? Ms Stewart has had a glittering career in broadcasting, presenting the BBC?s flagship Nine O?Clock News and the evening news.

She was awarded an OBE in 2001 and has won a host of TV awards, including Newscaster of the Year in 1988.