Mackenzie Turpie

Mackenzie Turpie was a postman from St. Andrews, Scotland, and was a member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. There were some minor grumblings among the contestants about playing with Turpie, because of his “lowly” position as a postman, but the French organizers, to their credit, defused them and allowed him to play. Turpie was on holiday in Paris at the time of the Games. In that era, the British definition of a “gentleman” was basically somebody who did not actually work for a living, and all amateurs in Britain were supposed to be gentlemen.

A very popular, and much liked, member of the St. Andrews community, Turpie joined the St. Andrews post office in 1874 and worked for them for 47 years. He started as a telegraph messenger, before becoming a rural postman, and then the town’s ”postie”. He died suddenly after returning home from his daily walk which took him to the reading room at St Andrews Golf Club, where he had been a member for 50 years and was one of the longest serving club members at the time.