FALLEN HERO – PC Thomas King 1898
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REMEMBERING A FALLEN HERO – Dave Conner today had the privilege of taking the great granddaughter and great-great granddaughter of Constable Thomas King (Inverness-shire constabulary) to visit PC King’s grave at Abernethy Churchyard, near Nethybridge. Catherine (Cathy) Raiteri (nee Mann) and her daughter Leanne Mayfield had travelled from Queensland, Australia and could not make a trip to the UK without paying their respects at the grave of their ancestors, PC King and his son also Thomas junior whose ashes are also interred there. Cathy nursed Thomas junior (her great uncle) in his final years in Australia and Leanne also recalls often visiting him before he passed away in 1976.
During the visit on 5th September 2015, the Australian visitors were also shown by Dave Conner, and paid their respects at, the adjacent grave where lies PC James Fraser of the Elginshire (later Morayshire) constabulary. He died from stab wounds sustained on duty in June 1878 in Grantown-on-Spey. It is remarkable that only two officers to die from criminal attack in the whole history of policing of Policing of the Highlands & Islands should die within a matter of several miles of each other and be buried close to each other in the same lonely cemetery. It is almost 117 years since the death of PC King, the last officer in the former Northern Constabulary area (Highlands & Islands) to be murdered in the line of his duty. May there never be another such instance. God bless the Fallen officers.
THE MURDER
On 20th December 1898, Constable Thomas King – a 46-year old police officer who for the past 10 years had been the resident beat officer for the parish of Abernethy (Nethybridge) – had gone with a colleague PC John MacNiven (stationed at boat of Garten) to the rural Tulloch area to effect the area on a Sheriff Court warrant of one Allan MacCallum. The wanted man, residing with a mother and her daughter in a small but-and-ben two roomed cottage in the woodland of Tulloch, was wanted to appear before the court on a charge of poaching.
PC King, having made voice contact with MacCallum, approached the cottage. When he and his colleague entered the but-and-ben they split up. As PC King knew the layout of the house from previous visits, he went to the kitchen where MacCallum was likely to be , while MacNiven took the other room (bedroom). PC MacNiven then heard a shot ring out and stumbling through the darkened house, fell over what transpired to be the body of PC King. MacCallum had run off after firing the fatal shot. After a manhunt of several days led by the Deputy Chief of the Inverness-shire force, MacCallum was found hiding in a barn and was arrested, being held in Inverness Prison (then at Inverness Castle, another part of which building was also the force’s HQ) until his trial. MacCallum was convicted of Culpable Homicide, going down for fifteen years.
THE FAMILY
PC King was buried in Abernethy Graveyard and the memorial stone records: “ERECTED BY THE INVERNESS-SHIRE CONSTABULARY”. At that stage there was nothing to state how he met his death.
PC King’s widow Jessie had 5 children under 15 to look after – plus two who were “adults” (aged 15 and 16). Another child had died in infancy and is believed to have been previously buried in the plot occupied by PC King. (This would appear to explain the wee lamb statuette in front of the gravestone).
The King family subsequently all emigrated to Australia, where Jessie continued to receive her police widow’s pension until her death in Brisbane, Queensland in 1948 at the age of 89.
THE SON
In 1966 Andrew McClure, then Chief Constable of Inverness-shire, and his Deputy, Superintendent James Macintyre, had a surprise visit at the Force Headquarters at Inverness Castle from an elderly Australian gentleman – by the name of King. He was somewhat less than pleased to find that there was no memorial at the Force Headquarters to record the supreme sacrifice of Constable Thomas King. This gentleman was another Thomas King, the son of the late Constable, and this visit resulted in the erection of a commemorative plaque at the Entrance Hall of the Force headquarters (then at Inverness Castle, and now at the former Northern Constabulary HQ at Old Perth road, Inverness).
As for Thomas King (junior), son of the murdered Constable and who presented the memorial plaque, he had served his apprenticeship as a carpenter with a tradesman in Nethybridge before emigrating to Australia in 1907. Though only 16 years of age when he left his native soil, he never lost his love of the ‘Old Country’. He went on to become one of the leading figures in Highland Dancing in Australia, having been first a competitor and later a judge in the competitions.
Thomas ‘Tom’ King (junior) died in a Brisbane Nursing Home in December 1976, and during the following year his ashes were interred in his father’s grave, in Abernethy Churchyard, the service being attended by several police officers.
THE CENTENARY
On the centenary of PC King’s death, a ceremony was held at the graveside in Abernethy Churchyard. Retired Superintendent Alan Moir spoke on behalf of the Northern Constabulary branch of the Retired Police Officers Association Scotland, and three descendants of Constable King were also in attendance.
Constable Dave Conner, Force Historian, produced a uniform of the period, which had unfortunately shrunk (??!!) in the interim, preventing him from wearing it. Constable Malcolm Taylor, Boat of Garten, whose beat covered the area of Tulloch where Constable King fell, kindly deputised and wore the uniform with pride as the gravestone was re-dedicated, complete with added wording to the effect that the officer had been killed in the execution of his duty.
The force was represented by Deputy Chief Constable Keith Cullen, and local officers also attended. A booklet written by PC Conner, telling the story of Constable King’s career, death and family, was distributed at the service. Retired Inspector Sandy Mackenzie, an accomplished piper, played a lament at the graveside, including that haunting melody ‘Flowers of the Forest’, which would be heard across the world the next day from memorial services for the dead of the Lockerbie Disaster.
THE MEMORY
The memory of Constable King lives on, as can be seen from this visit today. Several member of the PC King’s family have visited his grave over the years, and last year Northern Constabulary Pipe Band paid their own respects at the grave while in the area for another event. PC King went into that house well aware of MacCallum being armed – he knew the potential danger but still endeavoured to do his job . Police officers have always had to make judgements (risk assessments) like that and thankfully most work out alright. Policing is a risky business but that does not deter the boys and girls in blue. That’s what The Job is all about – to serve and protect. May God protect all Law Enforcement Officers as they carry out their duty.
