Inverness-shire Constabulary - Constable Alexander MacVicar KPM : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Inverness-shire Constabulary - Constable Alexander MacVicar KPM / conner395
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| 説明 | 2,000 views on 2nd November 20131,000 views on 9th September 2013This document looks at first glance as though it is not very significant, being a poor copy as it is, but it is signed by the Chief Constable of the day, and it actually made history! (I have superimposed a photo of PC MacVicar, which was part of the photo montage of all members of the force 1899-1900-1901) It is a one-of-a-kind, a recommendation by a Chief Constable for the award to a Constable of the United Kingdom’s highest police award – the King’s Police Medal (introduced in 1909). The award (nowadays the Queens Police Medal) is only awarded to a few police officers each year, either Chief Officers or occasionally other senior ranks (or lower ranks, but then usually only for gallantry) on meeting the following criteria:(a) Conspicuous gallantry in saving life and property, or in preventing crime or arresting criminals; the risks incurred to be estimated with due regard to the obligations and duties of the officer concerned. (b) A specially distinguished record in administrative or detective service.(c) Success in organising Police Forces or Fire Brigades or Departments, or in maintaining their organisation under special difficulties.(d) Special services in dealing with serious or widespread outbreaks of crime or public disorder, or of fire.(e) Valuable political and secret services.(f) Special services to Royalty and Heads of States.(g) Prolonged service; but only when distinguished by very exceptional ability and merit.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Police_Medal_for_Gallantry The most intriguing thing about this application – and it was approved and the medal awarded – is that the application was dated 1918 (award made in the 1919 New Year honours List) but the events for which the award was made occurred THIRTY FOURS before.The history: well, here’s how the “Police Review and Parade Gossip” magazine put it on Feb 7, 1919:" For the first time, we believe the King’s Medal has been awarded to a Policeman of the rank of Constable “for meritorious service”. P.C. Alexander MacVicar, Inverness-shire, who has had 41 years’ service, distinguished himself in the agrarian troubles in Skye from 1882 to 1885, winning the commendation of the Sheriff Ivory. "The document from the Chief Constable reads as follows:County Clerk, INVERNESS: I submit that the name of Constable A. McVicar, Drumnadrochit be recommended for The King's Police Medal. He has 41 years of loyal and meritorious service, and he has distinguished himself in connection with the Land troubles in Skye from 1882 to 1885 and the following is an extract from the Sheriff Principal's Report dated 17th. October 1885:-“1 have already referred in my deliverance in John MacPherson's Complaint to the services of Constable MacVicar of Glendale and stated that he was a highly meritorious and trustworthy Officer, who had for the past four years courageously remained at his post, and in very trying circumstances faithfully and with great discretion discharged the most difficult duties to my entire satisfaction. Like all others who have honestly and fearlessly performed their duty he has been subjected to the most slanderous abuse and misrepresentation - his numerous detractors, both lay and clerical, having brought against him innumerable charges which after careful investigation have been found to be utterly destitute of foundation, but notwithstanding all the abuse and misrepresentation and the repeated threats of personal violence to which he was subjected, he preserved a calm but courageous demeanour and never for a moment deviated from the faithful performance of his duty. I have much pleasure in commending the services of Constable MacVicar as deserving special recognition".REPORTED BYA. C. MacLeanMajor,Chief Constable.The Castle, INVERNESS : 24th September, 1918,-----------------Fascinating stuff – but why the delay?Well, after 25 years in harness, Chief Constable William Murray of Inverness-shire retired in 1882, and his successor was the legendary Alexander McHardy, until then Chief Constable of Sutherland. Mr McHardy was clearly taken on to manage the major problems which were beginning to affect the Highlands in general, and Inverness-hire in particular – Land Agitation. This is not the place to detail it, but suffice to say that the crofters (tenant farmers of small-holdings) were not taking lightly the manner in which they were being treated by the landowners, and legal efforts have the crofters leave their croft were not succeeding. Large rent increases failed, and the people simply rose up and refused to be removed from the land – rather the reverse, they began to OCCUPY more land – and then came civil disobedience and violent resistance to the law. This necessitated Inverness-shire having to double in size their police force, following an incident in April 1882 near Portree on the Isle of Skye, known as the Battle of the Braes. (I have to be careful what I say here as my beloved wife’s ancestors, being from the Braes peninsula, were involved). Suffice to say that it required the Glasgow Police force to send a contingent of officers, to bolster the number of Inverness-shire men, and a “public order event” then ensued in that most bonnie part of the Misty Isle. www.walkhighlands.co.uk/info/History/TheCroftersStruggleThe main centre of activity then moved to Glendale, in North West Skye to where PC MacVicar had transferred in July 1882. He clearly, according to Sheriff Ivory, was subjected to a level of treatment which defies belief today. Soldiers were dispatched and a Navy Gunboat, such was the level of concern.Sheriff William Ivory was Sheriff Principal (the man appointed by the Crown to be in charge of all Courts in the county, and to be over the various Sheriff Substitutes who were the judges for the localities) for Inverness-shire. He clearly stood for no nonsense. He appears to have had his own very clear ideas as to course of action, and as principal law officer for the area, he intended to have his own way. Alexander McHardy, as Chief Constable, was also a no-nonsense chap, and with a wealth of experience as a law enforcement officer for 25 years. Hailing from Rural Aberdeenshire, he could likely understand the point of the countryman, and having been responsible since 16 years for policing the crofting county of Sutherland, he was well aware of the depth of feeling running. As such, McHardy and Ivory did not see eye to eye, and it seems as though there was considerable enmity between them, which ran and ran.Now whether it was the very fact that Ivory recommended MacVicar for some sort of award, that irked McHardy one cannot yet say. The fact is that McHardy (who was one of the first recipients of the Kings Police Medal in 1909) continued as Chief Constable until 1911, and appears not to have take the matter of McVicar any further. Admittedly, prior to 1909 there was no appropriate award to recommend MacVicar for, anyway. Possibly McHardy considered that (by 1909) it was too long after the events to recommend him for a KPM, and one could hardly fault him for that. After his death in service in 1911, McHardy was succeeded by Major Alexander C MacLean, a retired Army Officer with a different mind set. He it was who would have recommended THREE of his men (including PC MacVicar)for a KPM in October 1911 – none of whom were successful on that occasion. MacLean did not however give up, and finally PC McVicar receive his award in 1919. It must have been something of a surreal experience, an old man in his 60’s receiving a medal for which primarily he had earned as man of 30. Still, it does show you the truth of the old Scottish proverb: “what’s for ye, winna gae bye ye” (what you deserve, you will receive”. To illustrate that the medal was rarely given, there were only 4 police recipients (1 firemaster also received it) in Scotland in the 1919 New Year Honours List:-William Anderson, Chief Constable, Aberdeen City Police.John McGimpsey, Chief Detective Inspector, City of Glasgow Police.Alexander Hay, Constable, Nairnshire Constabulary. (BRAVERY)Alexander MacVicar, Constable, Inverness County Constabulary.Note: PC Hay (Nairn) was a Gallantry Award (for confronting, being shot by and disarming a criminal - usually only an extreme act of BRAVERY would see a lowly PC be awarded a KPM)So who was this PC MacVicar anyway?Alexander McVicar was a Railway Goods Checker before he joined the Inverness-shire Constabulary as a Constable on 21st December 1876. Clearly he had earlier left his home island of North Uist some time before that - there were no railways in the Uists. Whether he came from the now-uninhabited Island of Kirkibost or from the nearby crofting community of Caladach Kirkibost on North Uist itself is unknown - the officer’s record merely says "Kirkibost, North Uist".Constable McVicar was 21 when he joined the Police, and was taken on by Chief Constable William Murray, who had been in command of the Force since its re-constitution in 1858. Recruiting was piece-meal in those days, taking on when vacancies arose and suitable candidates appeared. Sadly, many of the candidates taken on in 1876 in particular transpired to be unsuitable. A total of one dozen were taken on during the course of that year, and six left within a year, two being summarily dismissed for misconduct of the "out of a bottle" kind. This seems about par for the course, comparing data for the previous few years! Several others did not stay the course, leaving within a few years, but those who did were of sterner stuff.The force in 1876 was not a very large one - compared to how it would majorly increase within a the decade - and there was not then the "luxury" of having more than one new recruit at Force Headquarters for a lengthy induction/training period. At the North east end of the Great Glen, on the shore of Loch Ness is the quiet area of Dores - a village with surrounding farming land, only a few miles from Inverness. This was one of the locations where Mr Murray chose to station new recruits, usually for several months to let each one "bed in" before being relocated to busier locations. PC McVicar was the sixth officer to be based in Dores during the course of 1876, though quite how much they actually patrolled that parish is unclear. It is likely that they actually worked from Inverness Castle, but were based at Dores only in name. The officer would however be expected to live in or around the location, probably in lodgings as there does not appear to have been a police house or station at that time. Indeed it seems to have one of the many locations in the county were the force rented a house, one room of which was used as a police office. On ending of the lease, another house would be obtained for the duration.In any event, like his predecessors that year, Alexander McVicar did not get to dally long therein that idyllic part of the Great Glen. In September 1877, like others before him, the next station was Isleornsay, in the south west of the Isle of Skye. He clearly passed muster there, remaining in situ until May 1879 when he removed to the north west corner of Skye, the village of Dunvegan.Three years later, in July 1882 he was deployed a few miles down the road to the crofting community of Glendale, which would be a hotbed of animosity and conflict. What he experienced there one can only guess at but Sheriff Ivory’s account pulls no punches. It must have been horrendous, for the Sheriff to have put pen to paper on the matter. After those three years in what must have been a consistent maelstrom, he moved again to the slightly quieter location of Glenelg, on the mainland opposite the south end of Skye. It must have been somewhat therapeutic as it was another 13 years before his next move. This time, in April 1898, it was back to his first Station, Dores on Loch Ness, and presumably an opportunity to act as tutor cop for new recruits. One can only imagine the “war stories” he shared with them. Finally after 6 years on the east shore of Loch Ness, he moved in May 1904 to the opposite shore, to Drumnadrochit. (The police station finally closed there not so long ago). Doubtless aiming for retiral at 60, World War One prevented that and he remained in post until October 25th 1921, being able to wear the prestigious blue and silver ribbon of the KPM for his last few years. By that time he had served for 44 years and 10 months, and was over 65 years of age. He would have looked forward to retirement, but only managed to collect his pension of £164 p.a. for 5 and a half years, passing away on 22nd March 1927. At least by then, a widow’s pension of £30 per annum was provided for Mrs M.A. McVicar, which she was still receiving at least as far as 1935, the last year where the Chief Constable’s Annual Report lists pensioners.One final point – the Drumnadrochit War Memorial has an “A MacVicar” on it in respect of the First World War. Since MacVicar is not a local surname, I did some research and found that it referred to:MacVICAR, ALEXANDERRank: SapperService No: 126853Date of Death: 22/08/1917Age: 19Regiment/Service: Royal Engineers W.T. Coy. (Worcester) Cemetery INVERNESS (TOMNAHURICH) CEMETERYAdditional Information:Son of Alexander and Mary A. MacVicar, of Dhivach, Drumnadrochit, Inverness.www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/327642/MacVICAR,%20AL...I don’t suppose the Medal made that much difference to PC MacVicar in comparison with losing his (eldest?) sonGod bless them all |
| 撮影日 | 1918-09-01 00:00:00 |
| 撮影者 | conner395 , Inverness, Scotland |
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| 撮影地 | Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom 地図 |