Zooming in on the detail of a newly-digitised photo, I noticed first-floor signage reading ‘City Private Detective Agency’, ‘Macrae’.

The photo shows a building that still stands in Princes Street, Dunedin. It was built in 1915 for Whitcombe & Tombs, the large firm of booksellers, stationers, and printers. This later became Whitcoulls, which continued on the site until 1985. At the tiled entrance to what is now the Art Fun Wear shop, the monogram ‘W & T Ltd’ can still be seen.

After a little of my own detective work it turns out John Cameron Macrae had an office here in 1924. Born in 1881 in Clacknaberry, Inverness, Scotland, Macrae had been a police constable on the West Coast and claimed sixteen years of police experience. His advertisement stated ‘Investigations made and Information obtained in all matters within the dominion, also United Kingdom and United States. All information strictly private. Divorce Cases a specialty. Also, Rents and Accounts Collected’.

Macrae didn’t stay in this line of work for long and may have only used this office for a year. He is listed in later directories as a builder and second-hand dealer. He died in Dunedin in 1956.

The building was gutted by fire in 1955 and much of it had to be rebuilt. For more information and modern day photos see: https://builtindunedin.com/…/28/whitcombe-tombs-building/