THE family of a Dunbar police inspector who was killed on duty in 1906 were shellshocked when a memento of his life was returned to them. . . from New Zealand.
Police Inspector John Scott died on August 27, 1906, aged 53, when he was struck by a train while patrolling the line at Dunbar.
The local community raised money for a headstone by inscribing cowrie shells and selling them.
Then, in 1994, a friend of the family spotted an article in a magazine about a cowrie shell inscribed “In memory of John Scott, Inspector of Police” that had been found on Foxton Beach in New Zealand.
John’s great great granddaughter, Janice Burnett, who lives in Edinburgh, said: “After some research, it was discovered that Inspector Scott’s son Thomas had gone to Australia but we were unsuccessful in tracing much about him.
“The only explanation we can come up with is that perhaps he took one of the shells with him and then maybe visited New Zealand.”
The shell, found by a New Zealand family, was donated to Te Papa Museum in Wellington.
Janice said: “They literally just found it on the beach. They obviously thought that it meant something to someone so they put it in the museum.”
Janice’s daughter Carly, 26, who lives in New Zealand, visited the museum in 2016 to view the shell and have her photo taken with it.
Janice said: “We asked if there was any way to purchase it or have it sent back home to Scotland and they didn’t seem to think that was a possibility.
“Another few years went by and I emailed them because my mum had mentioned it again and my mum is now 81 and her sister is 84, and we just thought it would be nice if the shell could make it back here.”
After seeking permission from the family who had found it, and getting all the necessary clearance from heritage groups and customs, the museum shipped the cowrie shell back to Janice’s home, where it arrived last month.
Janice said: “When it arrived here it was in a massive great box, like something out of Indiana Jones.
“You can tell the museum treats these things with absolute care.”
And, in a touching moment, Janice, her mum Joan Miller and aunt Helen Stars, visited John’s grave in Dunbar Parish Church cemetery last month and placed the newly returned cowrie shell on his headstone.
Janice said: “It was so lovely for his great granddaughters to have the shell back where it came from all those years ago.”
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