Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Officer to be added to police memorial
JUDITH TONNER
A police officer from Airdrie who died on duty 80 years ago is to be honoured.
John McPherson Stevenson, who was a special constable with Airdrie Burgh police, died after being knocked down by a car during a wartime blackout in October 1939.
His story was discovered by researchers from Lanarkshire police historical society (LPHS) – and means that his name will be added to the Scottish police memorial at its Tulliallan Castle training college in Fife.
Now the local volunteers are aiming to trace any of Constable Stevenson’s descendants or relatives to share his story and ensure they can be invited to future annual services where he and other fallen officers are remembered.
LPHS chair George Barnsley first learned of story during the course of his local newspaper archive research into the death in service of another policeman.
He told the Advertiser: “I’d been looking at one story and on the same page was this one, which we’d previously had no idea about.
“Anyone who dies on duty has their name added to the memorial wall at Tulliallan, so we started doing the research to be able to put Special Constable Stevenson’s name forward.
“We’d love to find any of his relatives so that they can be invited to the memorial ceremony each year, which is a very touching and emotional service; and it would be fantastic to have a photograph of him too as each officer also has a page in a remembrance book.”
Special Constable Stevenson had been on duty with a colleague when he was seriously injured during a blackout shortly after midnight on October 3 1939.
He was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary in a critical condition, but died there two days later.
Aged 38, he was survived by wife Mary and their eight-month-old daughter; he was buried at New Monkland cemetery with colleagues forming a guard of honour, while the “large attendance” of mourners included Airdrie Burgh chief constable James Turner and special constabulary commandant James Pettigrew.
The well-known Airdrie man had lived at Kippen Street and was a mechanic and employee of Dempster Brothers; his parents were Robert and Catherine Stevenson and his death was registered by his brother Joseph, who lived at Gilchrist Street in Coatbridge.
His death and funeral were reported in Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser editions in October 1939, alongside news of the first Airdrie soldier to die in World War II and reflections on the recent Mossside mining disaster in the town.
George said of the unexpected discovery of Special Constable Stevenson’s story: “I wasn’t surprised – I was in the police for 32 years and that’s the way things went, that you’d start doing one thing and then other lines of enquiry opened up.
“It probably takes about four to five hours to research a story like this by going through newspaper archives and the Scotland’s People website, but once you’ve started, you can’t put it down.
“Everybody in the society is chuffed to bits that we’ve been able to find out about this officer; it’s great to have a local officer recognised gnised in this way and have his name added to the memorial – and it’s even better when we can find their family.”
Although this September’s ceremony is cancelled, Special Constable Stevenson’s name will be added to the marble memorial wall and relatives will be invited to all future occasions.
George added: “It’s a beautiful memorial, really stunning – it’s in a lovely garden and is really impressive to see, and the annual memorial service is a very touching and emotional occasion where wreaths are laid for those who’ve died.
“There are eight new names going on this year; the memorial has been there for around 15 years so names are still being added in cases like this where we’ve found out about someone’s story.
“We want to make Special Constable Stevenson’s family aware that their relative’s life hasn’t been forgotten by the police service, and that there will be a permanent memorial of his service given and sacrifice made.”
Members of the police history society, which was founded seven years ago, are also on the lookout for photographs and memorabilia relating to Lanarkshire’s former forces – including Airdrie Burgh police, founded in 1822, and Coatbridge Burgh police, established in 1894.
The county was also represented by forces covering Motherwell & Wishaw, and neighbouring Hamilton; all four ceased to exist in 1967. Society members are also keen to hear about Lanarkshire Constabulary, which operated until 1975.
Relatives of Special Constable Stevenson can contact the society by emailing george.barnsley@lphs.org.uk or visiting the society’s website at www. lphs.org.uk.