Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

Certifications

It makes sense that the list of work experience should include credentials and academic qualifications. However, as this section mainly focuses on their marriage and life together until they moved to Culcheth, Lancashire, England in 1952 or 1953, I will only include a summary of his credentials.

The fact of the matter is that it seems my father was a ‘hands-on’ man. Although his “Apprentice’s Discharge Certificate” (see above) states that he “has served an apprenticeship of five years as an ELECTRICAL ENGINEER,” it does not indicate his formal qualifications. Obviously, this is nothing new.

Today’s employers and educational institutions continue to exploit and deceive young people by promising them credentials that are more or less worthless. A good example is Donald Trump, a corrupt businessman, and a former indicted American president. His Trump University was not even a university.⁶⁵ 

However, despite not having formal qualifications, his completed apprenticeship enabled him to join the RNVR  as an ‘electrical officer’ and later work for various employers as an ‘engineer.’ As previously mentioned, he spent at least twenty years after the war trying to obtain formal qualifications. He completed a five-year apprenticeship in the 1930s. My mother sent me his typewritten qualifications some twenty-five years ago, around 1998. This is what she sent me:

Academic Qualifications

• School Leaving Certificate, Scottish Education Department, Edinburgh, Tynecastle Public School; and George Heriot’s⁶⁶ and Heriot Watt Technical College (attended for 2 years).
• Associate of the Institute of Electrical Engineers, 1955.
• Ordinary National Electrical (over 70% with credits), Leigh Technical College 1958.
• A.I. Electrical (over 70% with credits), Leigh Technical College, 1959.
• Higher National Certificate (over 70% with credits), Leigh Technical College, 1960.
• Joint Section “A” – English, 1958
• Switchgear Design Course, Wigan Technical College, 1961.
• H.N.C. Course in Electronics 1961.
• Associate Member of the Institution of Electronic Engineers, 1960.

Working as a teacher

I always thought I was the first teacher in the family (after my mother); I was surprised to find a ‘teaching testimonial’ among his papers. Reading that made me realize how similar my father and I are in many ways. Although we are/were sometimes ‘socially unintelligent’ in certain situations, this is the exact quality that can make an ‘inspiring teacher’ (to quote my father’s testimonial). In other words, a certain personality trait may be seen as negative in one social context, while being positive in one social context, while being positive in another. 

⁶⁵ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_University Read: 15 August 2022. 

⁶⁶ I don’t know much about George Heriot’s school, but it seems to be an independent school and a cut above the rest. I’m not sure if my grandparents had to pay fees, or if my father passed a scholarship. More research needs to be done. It is not unthinkable that there are some school photos and descriptions floating around the internet somewhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Heriot%27s_School#19th_and_20th_centuries