Frank Ritchie

Francis “Frank” William Ritchie was born in Macduff on Thursday, July 11, 1901. He lived at 69 Duff Street in Macduff with his father, John (a photographer), his mother, Christina, his grandfather, John, and his brothers, John, Walter, and James.

The son of a photographer, John Ritchie didn’t follow in his footsteps and left London at the age of 21 on the RMS Naldera for Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), on Thursday, August 3, 1922, as a tea planter. From 1925 to 1929, he served as Assistant Manager for the Wellandura Group in Pelmadulla, in the Ratnapura district, east of Colombo. During his time here, he was injured, and this caused him to have to return home, arriving in London on the ship SS Gloucestershire on Friday, the 17 May 1929, where Frank’s address was given as his father’s and stepmother’s at Glenburnie House, Skene Street, Aberdeen. His mother, Christina, died in 1923 while Frank was in Ceylon, and his father remarried in 1925 to Bessie Hutcheon.

In 1930, Frank was living in Macduff, where he worked as a photographer with William Ritchie of Shepherd & Ritchie. He worked from the shop at 24 Buchan Street. Although called Shepherd and Ritchie, Frank traded under this name until 1949. William Shepherd of Shepherd and Ritchie passed away in 1933, but his wife, Maggie, continued to own Frank's shop. He then had his shop at 66 Duff Street.

Due to his injury, he was unable to serve in the forces, so he became an officer in the air raid warden service for the Banff District. He was also appointed as an official photographer in the Aberdeen area by the Ministry of Information. In this role, he travelled all over the north-east to photograph bomb damage that could be released to the press. Such a photo had to feature scenes that would not raise public concern, and also, the photo location would not be identifiable to help the enemy determine where it was bombed. Censorship of such photos was strictly applied. In December 1939, as an Air Raid Warden, he gave a lecture on anti-gas topics in the event the Luftwaffe dropped chemical weapons. He attended the Air Raid Precautions School several times in York and became an instructor, qualifying him to hold such lectures. 

I obtained some photographs from the son of an Auxiliary Unit member, Charles Proctor. The pictures were taken at training camp in the Blairmore / Aswanley area outside Huntly. In discussions about obtaining copies of the photos, it was mentioned that the photograph was in a sleeve by a Macduff photographer. This was new information. Until now, the pictures circulating were taken by an unknown party. The sleeve was scanned and sent on, which showed the name “Shepherd & Ritchie, Macduff”.

It is known that negatives from the shop were dumped down a well adjacent to the shop. These would likely have been from the covert bombing or the Auxiliary Units. Having these would have been a criminal offence and dealt with very severely.

Frank married Annie Greig on Friday, the 4th of August 1950, and had two children. They resided at 79 Duff Street, Macduff and passed away on September 15th, 1954, in Banff, aged 53.