View source for Charles Rivett-Carnac

{{Short description|Canadian police commissioner (1901–1980)}}
{{for|the British Olympic sailor|Charles Rivett-Carnac (sailor)}}{{Infobox officeholder
| name = 
| office = [[Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]
| image = 
| caption = 
| predecessor = [[Leonard Nicholson]]
| successor = [[Clifford Harvison]]
| termend = March 31, 1960
| termstart = April 1, 1959
| birth_date = August 31, 1901
| birth_place = [[Eastbourne]], [[Sussex]], [[England]]
| death_date = {{death date and age |1980|7|18 |1901|08|31 |mf=yes}}
| death_place = 
}}'''Charles Edward Rivett-Carnac''' (August 31, 1901 &ndash; July 18, 1980) was a [[Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police]].

== Biography ==

===Early life===
A descendant of [[James Rivett-Carnac|Sir James Rivett-Carnac]], Rivett-Carnac, was born in [[Eastbourne]], [[Sussex]], [[England]] and soon after his birth, was taken by his father to [[Assam]] in India. He lived there until he returned to England at the age of six and spent his early childhood living with an aunt and uncle. He attended [[St Cyprian's School]] and when he was 14 went on to [[Eastbourne College]] as a boarder. A year later he was moved again to live with a different aunt in London, where he went to a local grammar school. Rivett-Carnac did not enjoy school, and during [[World War I]] loaned money off a friend to learn to drive so that he could join the [[British Red Cross]] as an ambulance driver. At the age of 16, he joined the French Ambulance Corps and served on the front line.

===India===
After the war, he joined his father, who was Deputy Inspector General of the [[Indian Police Service|Indian Imperial Police]] in India. Here Rivett-Carnac was in charge of the Assam Sawmills and Timber Company forest operations for the [[Tezpur]] area of India. Working in the elephant camps of the jungle took its toll on Rivett-Carnac, and he began to suffer from [[malaria]]. He soon left the jungle and worked as an assistant manager for the Bisra Stone Lime Company. A few months later, due to his poor health he was sent to work at the head office in [[Calcutta]] where medical facilities were more readily available.

===Canada===
In 1923 he emigrated to [[Canada]] with only thirty-five dollars in his pocket and joined the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|"Mounties"]] on July 25. He spent many years working in the North of Canada, and he steadily rose through the ranks to become the 11th Commissioner of the force, a post he held from April 1, 1959 to March 31, 1960. In 1945 while Rivett-Carnac was in charge of Intelligence at headquarters, he was heavily involved in the famous [[Igor Gouzenko]] case. He was also Vice-President of [[Interpol|INTERPOL]].

==Publications==

*''Pursuit in the Wilderness'' (1967).

==References==
* {{cite web|url=http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/canadiancavalry/rcmprivettcarnac.htm|title=Charles Rivett-Carnac|accessdate=June 25, 2006 }}

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{{succession box|title=[[Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police]]|
                 before=[[Leonard Nicholson]]|
                 after=[[Clifford Harvison]]|
                 years=1959-1960}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivett-Carnac, Charles}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioners]]
[[Category:People from Eastbourne]]
[[Category:People educated at St Cyprian's School]]
[[Category:British emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Rivett-Carnac family|Charles]]

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