Ross & Cromarty Constabulary PC A M MacKenzie 1939 : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Ross & Cromarty Constabulary PC A M MacKenzie 1939 / conner395
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示 2.1 |
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| 説明 | 1,000 views on 16th October 2013PC MacKenzie outside his Station at Achiltibuie in 1939ALEXANDER MACLEAN MACKENZIEConstable 41, Ross & Cromarty Constabulary Alexander M. Mackenzie was born at Charleston near Gairloch in Wester Ross in 1884. After working locally for some time he joined the Dunbartonshire Constabulary as a Constable in 1903 and served in the Clydebank area. After 4 and a half years there he returned to his native Ross-shire when he transferred to the Ross & Cromarty Constabulary on 27 September 1907. He joined the Ross-shire Force two years after a new Chief Constable had been appointed. Captain Duncan Finlayson had no previous Police experience but had served 25 years in the Highland Light Infantry, latterly as Divisional Recruiting Officer in Glasgow, so it is possible that the two men already knew each other. Finlayson was from Lochcarron, so with both men being from Wester Ross, it is very likely that their paths had crossed in the Greater Glasgow area. Alex Mackenzie served for one year in the Burgh of Dingwall before being transferred to Cromarty on 29 September 1908. On 1 July 1909 he was moved to Tain. In 1910 he married his wife Margaret who hailed from Culbokie (on the Black Isle - between Dingwall and Cromarty), and on 9 March 1915 he took over the single-officer Beat of Strathpeffer, a popular spa resort village few miles west of Dingwall. By then they had 2 children and 2 more would be born at Strathpeffer. On 30 October 1918 Chief Constable Finlayson decided to transfer Alexander again, this time to Finlayson's home village of Lochcarron on the West Coast. The Chief would have had his reasons for so doing, not least of which was doubtless to ensure that he would receive a candid and prompt assessment of the young officer's performance from the residents of the parish. His nearest supervisor was the Sergeant in Kyle of Lochalsh, but the next highest bosses were based in Dingwall, on the East coast far away. In those days, as indeed now, there is a considerable responsibility vested upon the officer stationed in a locality far from reinforcements. He is the Police, and his behaviour and actions are a direct reflection upon the Force as a whole. Hence why the Chief had moved PC Mackenzie in stages. His experience in Clydebank was of great value but it is a different job working shifts in a big town to working alone in a remote area of the Highlands. So Captain Finlayson had eased PC Mackenzie in gradually, from working in Dingwall Burgh, then to Cromarty for a taster of quieter life at a two-man post, then further variety in a larger town in the form of Tain. The move to Strathpeffer was definitely to a more rural (single-officer) beat but not that far from the 'metropolis' of Dingwall. That at least meant he could actually get a day off, with cover being provided from Headquarters. With his subsequent move to Lochcarron on the west coast, he would invariably work alone and be very much out on his own. On 27th November 1919, at the first meeting of the newly instituted Scottish Police Federation (Ross & Cromarty Constabulary Branch), Constable Alexander Mackenzie, Lochcarron, was one of the members elected by the Force. He was also elected to be the sole representative of the Constables in the force at the first Scottish Police Federation Central Conference in Edinburgh on 18th & 19th December 1919. He was re-elected to the Joint Branch Board in 1920, 21, 22 and 23, and on 16th October 1923 he was appointed Chairman of the Joint Branch Board for that session. He was the first Constable to be so appointed - previously the office had been held by Sergeants. On 9 May in 1924, with now seven of a family, he had moved to Shieldaig, and he was unable to attend the May Federation meeting. He made it for the August meeting though. He was re-elected Chairman, and also Chairman of the Constables' Branch Board, in October 1924. His colleagues also nominated him to attend the Central conference. Although Alexander Mackenzie stood for re-election to the Federation, and was indeed returned, he intimated that he had done his bit and sought to demit his offices of Chairman. This was reluctantly accepted and off he went to the 'back benches'. He was unable to attend the next two meetings of that session but did attend the September one. Again for the 1926-27 session he let his name go forward for election, and not only was he returned to the Board but he was proposed as Chairman of the Constables' Board, although he happily saw yet another Sergeant take the Chairmanship of the Joint Board. He was as usual an ever-present attender that session. Re-elected to the Board in October 1927, he again accepted the nomination for Chairman of the Constables' Board. This was another session where Alexander had perfect attendance at Meetings. In 1928, he again was elected to the Board but kept his head down when nominations for office for Constables' and Joint Boards were being sought. In 1929 he had moved again, this time to Achiltibuie on the Coigach peninsula north-west of Ullapool. By this time the family had grown to eight. This transfer took place on 26 June. The move seems to have resulted in him deciding no longer to stand for the Federation, as his name does not appear in the list of those attending (or being absent from) the first meeting of the 1929-30 session, held in Dingwall on 10.10.29. He had however done very well, having served the Federation for 10 years, since the organisation was inaugurated.In March 1930 Margaret gave birth to their 9th child. Sasgly Mrs MacKenzie died exactly two weeks after the birth.At their meeting on 14th May 1930 the Joint Branch Board minuted the following item: (5) Constable Alexander Mackenzie: ----------------------------- Reference was made to the death of the wife of this Constable, the fact that he was left with a large, young family to bring up, and that there had been an outbreak of measles in his family recently, all of which inflicted a great hardship upon him. The members of the J.B.B. present expressed their sympathy with this officer and it was moved, seconded and agreed to that, on account of the family trouble experienced by Constable Alexander Mackenzie, Achiltibuie recently and the expenses which he was necessarily obliged to meet, the Chief Constable be requested to sanction the taking of a voluntary collection from the members of the Force on behalf of the Constable. The result was reported at the meeting of 16th September 1930: (2) Minute 5 of Previous Meeting: ---------------------------- The Secretary intimated that, with the permission of the Chief Constable, the sum of twelve pounds, eight shillings and sixpence (£12:8:6d) was collected from the members of the Force on behalf of, and forwarded to, Constable Alexander Mackenzie, Achiltibuie. Constable Mackenzie's acknowledgement of the money was read at the meeting. Old habits perhaps, or maybe simply appreciation for the gesture of his colleagues, but he soon bounced back again and was elected to the Board at the Annual Election in October 1930. Not only that but PC Mackenzie, Achiltibuie, was also elected Chairman again of the Constables' Board. So after only one year away, he was back. For the February 1931 meeting he was recorded as being at Achiltibuie and for the June one he is shown as being stationed at Coigach. The September one shows him being absent but stationed at Achiltibuie. This shows the transitional stage which the Police Service was in at the time. Some officers continued to refer to the Beat by its locality name, while others would call by the name of the village in which the Police office was located. This stems from the old days when a Constable was not provided with a Police Station and house in the smaller villages but was simply placed wherever a house could be found in the area, and this would double as the Police Station. It was an ad-hoc arrangement similar to the way Parish Registrars and small Sub Post Offices still operate. Things though seem to have been getting too much for him, as he seems not have stood for the 1931-32 session. Obviously having so many children to care for, as well as his police duties to undertake, meant that he was unable to be away from home for at least one and probably two days which was necessary for travelling and attendance at Federation meetings - which were always held in Dingwall. His 55th birthday came and went in 1939, when he had attained 35 years service. In normal circumstances he would have been able to claim a well-earned retirement but with the clouds of war over Europe retirement was not an option. Even although he was serving in what was a rural backwater in peace time, it became a strategic location in war. Details of police duties performed in wartime were rarely made known but Constable Mackenzie obviously performed well in what was an important area covering the approach to Ullapool and the Sound of Raasay, an important route for convoys and one liable to be well frequented by U-boats bent upon attacking the important Naval installations at Kyle of Lochalsh to the South and Loch Ewe to the North. So much were his services appreciated that Rear Admiral R. Hill, Flag Officer in Charge, Greenock saw fit in November 1945 to commit to paper his appreciation to Alex for rendering: "very great help to the Royal Navy in assisting the local Naval Officer, Ullapool in his various duties during the war 1939-1945" By that time (since 1935) the Force had a new Chief Constable, William Maclean, who had come through the ranks of the Ross-shire force, and who obviously knew PC Mackenzie very well. Mr Maclean was obviously delighted to pass on, and echo, the appreciation of Rear Admiral Hill. Alexander Mackenzie finally was able to retire on 29 March 1947 at the ripe old age (for a Policeman anyway) of 63, with 43 years service. Despite his late retiral, he managed to get back a good bit of his contributions in pension ! He remained in the Achiltibuie area for a time, and served for a period as District Councillor for the Coigach area before ill-health forced him to take it easy. He saw out his twilight years in Tain where he spent many happy years in the earlier part of his Police Service. He passed away in 1968 at the ripe old age of 84, having been on Police Pension for 21 years. He was buried in Culbokie in the Black Isle.I am grateful to his family for providing photographs of PC MacKenzie during his Police Service. |
| 撮影日 | 1939-01-01 00:00:00 |
| 撮影者 | conner395 , Inverness, Scotland |
| タグ | |
| 撮影地 | Achiltibuie, Scotland, United Kingdom 地図 |
| カメラ | HP psc1200 , HP |