Constable Richard PACE (-)
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PC Pace died after he and a railway policeman were attacked by a mob of navvies who had earlier been fighting with other officers. He was survived by his wife.
About Midnight on Saturday 28th February 1846 two Irish labourers working on the Hawick branch line of the North British Railway near Fushie Bridge, south of Edinburgh were arrested by Sergeant Brown of the railway police and Constable Christie of Edinburghshire Constabulary, for theft of two watches from a hawker.
The men were taken to the local police station but a crowd of their co-workers soon gathered demanding their release. Despite stiff resistance by the police officers, they were overcome by the crowd who were armed with a variety of weapons. Sergeant Brown had a pistol placed to his head and PC Christie suffered blows from an axe, amongst other injuries.
Forced to withdraw, they could only watch as the `navvies` broke in and rescued the two thieves.
As the mob made their way back through the village of Gorebridge, they came upon local Constable Richard Pace and a railway Constable named John Veitch who had been checking the licenced premises in the village.
Both officers were attacked and severely beaten, with Pace receiving a blow to the back of his head which rendered him senseless. He was left for dead by the mob and was soon conveyed to his nearby home while medical attention was summoned. He never regained consciousness and died later in the day.
When word of the crime began to circulate, a competing group of Scottish and English `navvies` marched on the Irish camps, chasing off the men and burning their huts.
Such was the concern that Sheriff Speirs and a contingent of Dragoons were dispatched from Edinburgh, backed up by a large number of county and city police officers. It would appear that the show of force was effective as things quietened down very quickly thereafter.
A collection by his colleagues raised £18 which was presented to PC Pace`s wife to enable her to move to the south of England where she had friends.
His name is engraved on the Scottish Police Memorial and will never be forgotten.
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