Well I never…

The mystery behind a postcard sent to a family on Stornaway, the main town of the Western Isles in Scotland, almost 60 years ago, has been solved thanks to some amazing teamwork and the detective skills of postman Willie MacDonald.

Stornaway’s mail is serviced by Inverness Mail Centre and arrives by air every day. On Friday 26 July, postman Donald Smith was sorting the manual letters when he noticed the postcard, sent by a ‘Lilly’ and addressed to ‘The Girls, c/o John Gilles, 1 Bells Road, Stornoway.’

Delivery office manager Kevin Clark, said: ‘Not noticing the Inverness frank from 1960, Donald gave the card to his colleague, postman Gordon MacKay.

‘The address in question is now a Harris Tweed clothing shop called “Rarebird”. As you can imagine, quite a lot has changed over the years, even in a small town like Stornoway. When Gordon took the card out on delivery, he was told that it wasn’t for Rarebird.’

Rather than put the card through the addressee unknown, return to sender process, Gordon handed the card to PHG and workplace coach, Willie MacDonald.

‘They then noticed the frank dated 1960,’ said Kevin. ‘Over the weekend and in his own time, Willie took the card to Sandy Matheson, a local historian and a fountain of local historical knowledge.

‘In a small town like Stornoway, when talking to the older generation, they first ask you who your parents are before asking your name. From that information, it’s not uncommon to have your whole family tree relayed back to you before you’ve even formally introduced yourself!

‘Sandy solved the puzzle immediately, giving Willie the history of the site, the previous owner and the history of the family. He told Willie that the owner “c/o J. Gilles” has a surviving daughter living in town and gave the address.

‘Unbelievably, he then went on to say the card was written by Lily, a now very elderly woman also residing in the old folk’s home, whose late husband was a former postmaster in Stornoway named, John Norman Campbell!’

Armed with this knowledge, Willie came to work early on Monday to catch Donald, who delivered the item to the daughter of ‘John Gilles’, a Mrs Nellie MacKenzie.

‘Waiting at the door for him was Nellie’s husband Rae,’ said Kevin. ‘He was very excited about receiving the card as he had heard all about it.

‘It remains a mystery how the postcard entered the system after all this time, as it appears to have been posted on the mainland in 1960.’

Pictured left to right: Willie MacDonald, Donald Smith, and Gordon MacKay.