A familiar face was on hand to oversee the opening of police archives in Fife stretching back 140 years.
PC Murdoch from The Sunday Post’s Oor Wullie comic strip was based on Kincardine policeman PC Sandy Marnoch, so it was only fitting he was on hand to guard the archives at Markinch.
The records were transferred to Fife Council archives in 2002 and contain the service records of police officers who joined the Dunfermline City force between 1874 and 1913, the Burgh of Kirkcaldy force between 1877 and 1948 and the county force from 1858 to 1950.
The name index to the registers of police officers has been completed and is available at www.fifedirect.org.uk/archives, making it easier for historians to track down records.
“Fife Constabulary is committed to taking policing closer to the community and this initiative by the council’s archivists helps us to do this by allowing local people to look at our historical records at the archives and also online,” said PC Paul McGlashan.
“It was fascinating to see how policing has changed over the years and our community-led approach is very different to how our predecessors operated.”
One of those who served in the local constabulary during the Second World War was Dudley D. Watkins, the author and cartoonist who created Oor Wullie and The Broons.
During his time as a PC, Watkins worked alongside PC Marnoch a legendary character in the town allegedly taking no nonsense from the local population.
Watkins based the character of PC Murdoch almost entirely on PC Marnoch, changing the name only slightly.