Charles Edward Rivett-Carnac (August 31, 1901 – July 18, 1980) was a

Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police The commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police () is the professional head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The commissioner exercises control and management of the RCMP under the direction of the Minister of Public Safety, min ...

Biography

Early life

A descendant of Sir James Rivett-Carnac, Rivett-Carnac, was born in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and soon after his birth, was taken by his father to

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

in India. He lived there until he returned to England at the age of six and spent his early childhood living with an aunt and uncle. He attended

St Cyprian's School St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations (usual ...

and when he was 14 went on to

Eastbourne College Eastbourne College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, for boarding school, boarding and Day school, day pupils aged 13–18, in ...

as a boarder. A year later he was moved again to live with a different aunt in London, where he went to a local grammar school. Rivett-Carnac did not enjoy school, and during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

loaned money off a friend to learn to drive so that he could join the

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society () is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with 1 ...

as an ambulance driver. At the age of 16, he joined the French Ambulance Corps and served on the front line.

India

After the war, he joined his father, who was Deputy Inspector General of the

Indian Imperial Police The Indian Imperial Police, referred to variously as the Indian Police or, by 1905, the Imperial Police, was part of the Indian Police Services, the uniform system of police administration in British India, as established by Government of India Ac ...

in India. Here Rivett-Carnac was in charge of the Assam Sawmills and Timber Company forest operations for the

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities. History Tezpur was under the rule of the Koch dynasty ...

area of India. Working in the elephant camps of the jungle took its toll on Rivett-Carnac, and he began to suffer from

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

. He soon left the jungle and worked as an assistant manager for the Bisra Stone Lime Company. A few months later, due to his poor health he was sent to work at the head office in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

where medical facilities were more readily available.

Canada

In 1923 he emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

with only thirty-five dollars in his pocket and joined the "Mounties" on July 25. He spent many years working in the North of Canada, and he steadily rose through the ranks to become the 11th Commissioner of the force, a post he held from April 1, 1959 to March 31, 1960. In 1945 while Rivett-Carnac was in charge of Intelligence at headquarters, he was heavily involved in the famous

Igor Gouzenko Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko (; ; January 26, 1919 – June 25, 1982) was a cipher clerk for the Soviet embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, and a lieutenant of the Soviet Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). He defected on September 5, 1945, th ...

case. He was also Vice-President of

INTERPOL The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

Publications

*''Pursuit in the Wilderness'' (1967).

References

* 1901 births 1980 deaths Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioners People from Eastbourne People educated at St Cyprian's School British emigrants to Canada

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

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