Caithness Constabulary 1912 Constable John Fortune : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Caithness Constabulary 1912 Constable John Fortune / 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 13th October 2013This is John Fortune who was born at Wick, Caithness c.1852. (UPDATED - see Comment)His father, James was a shepherd who was born c.1821 at Longformacus in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. In the 1841 census, it would appear that 20 year old James was living with his 2 brothers (John, 30 and Robert 15) and (widowed?) mother Margaret (aged 50) at Thurston Mains, Innerwick in East Lothian (on the east coast of Scotland, south of Edinburgh, between Dunbar and Eyemouth) All of the family were described as Agricultural Labourers and all were born in Easy Lothian.By the 1851 census, James had moved to the County of Caithness in the far north of Scotland and had taken a wife. Rachel, 12 years younger, who was from Wick, the county town. Prior to John’s birth in 1852, the couple were living at Stirkoke, a rural area a few miles west of wick. James’s birthplace was recorded as Longformacus in Berwickshire – this is obviously correct (the 1841 census was less precise) as the same information appears in the 1861 and 1871 censuses).Later census returns showed that John was the eldest and that his siblings were born at Thurso, (Donald c.1854) , Halkirk (James, c.1856) Wick (Janet 1859) Dunnet (Ann D. 1864) Halkirk (Georgina M C, 1866 and Alexander 1869) In 1861 young John was still living with his parents, staying at the private house Heartfield in the Parish of Dunnet, on the north coast of Scotland, near John O’Groats)In 1871 census, the family were now living at Acharaon (perhaps Achalone?) in the Parish of Halkirk. and John then aged 18 was described as “Shepherd’s son.” By 1881 John was now a police constable and residing at the Police Station at Reay, along with his sister Georgina who by then was 16 and although a "scholar" was presumably acting as his housekeeper. At that time (and until 1891) the parish of Reay was partly in Caithness and partly in Sutherland. This explains why PC Craighead, the police officer for the Melvich area of Sutherland also appears in the Reay (Caithness) census.Also that year there is another listing for a family named Fortune at Bank street, Thurso. – only a few miles east of Reay. (Thurso and wick are the two principal town of Caithness). John’s father James – now no longer a Shepherd but a Grocer – and wife Rachel play host to young James (also now a Grocer), Janet and Alexander, plus a BARBARA Fortune who is described as a “Policeman’s wife”. This must be PC John Fortune’s wife – who was born in the Parish of Farr, in the north west of Sutherland (also not too far from Thurso- and very close to Melvich) c.1851. One can only presume she is there staying with the in-laws for support and recovery following childbirth, doubtless of John aged “under 1 month” and birthplace given as Thurso. The fact that the other two children (James N., born 1879 and Christina b. 1880) are listed, along with mother and baby, at the Bank Street, Thurso, address and are shown as born at Reay means they must surely be John’s too. Chances are that this was the third child in quick succession so she had gone to her in-laws for the duration ,taking the kids with her, while her 16-year-old sister-in-law Georgina swapped homes to look after brother John who would not be able to leave his beat, and would also have been unable to attend to his duties AND also tend to 2 small children.This postcard, formerly in the collection of my good friend, the late John Green, is dated (and postmarked) 31st January 1912 and is addressed to Mrs & Mrs Fortune – Dear J & C – could this be younger brother James? Or one of John’s sons (James or John) who would be in their early 20s by then.If John Fortune joined the police in 1877 (say age 25) he would be able to retire at 1907 aged 55 or more likely aged 60 in 1912 – same year as the postcard – or the following year. The post card reads: “Dear J & C, Here is the card but when you have had a look at them pop them in the fire. Thanks C for your letter received last night. Glad you are all well. We are both in a measure of health. With love and kisses for Boys. Your affect’ly. J. Fortune.Thankfully the card did NOT go in the fire, and the identity is confirmed from another group photo of similar vintage in my “archives” where the officers – including PC Fortune - are named. The rest of the information has been gleaned from the Free Census website www.freecen.org.uk whose volunteers are going a great job.“A measure of health” is an intriguing description – certainly John does not look too good in the photograph.So it probably to one of his sons, now for some reason in Melton Mowbray in Leicester in the English Midlands, some 600 miles south of Reay, Caithness. It is very likely that he moved in connection with work, possibly because his employer had farming interests in both areas.Unfortunately there is no information available – or at least not yet tracked down by me – on PC fortune’s police career, nor of what became of him and his wife after (presumably) he retired from the police.As to the photograph, it is possibly one he either produced for himself or was done for him by some keen local amateur as it lacks the finesse and meticulous quality of a professional.(as witnessed by the errant hair which I was tempted to edit out after scanning the postcard!). One supposes that is Reay Police Station behind him. Caithness was a small force with only a handful of stations, so it is possible that he did most of his service in Reay. It is unlikely that having served there early in his service, he would have been moved out to somewhere else and then moved back later. We do he was stationed there in 1881 and in 1912 – that’s a long stint at one station, and not something which would have been countenanced by a chief officer in a bigger force. Fact is though, that in the smaller Counties it could happen if the officer was happy there and the bosses were happy with the officer’s work.Anyway, in police parlance “enquiries continue”. |
| 撮影日 | 1912-01-31 12:00:00 |
| 撮影者 | conner395 , Inverness, Scotland |
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| 撮影地 | Reay, Scotland, United Kingdom 地図 |