Seamus McSporran, BEM (born 1938) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

man who worked in over 13 jobs for 31 years in the Scottish

Isle of Gigha Gigha (; gd, Giogha, italic=yes; sco, Gigha) or the Isle of Gigha (and formerly Gigha Island) is an island off the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. The island forms part of Argyll and Bute and has a population of 163 people. The climate is m ...

. The island has a population of about 150. For 31 years McSporran was working in 14 jobs: *

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

, bus and

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

driver (all the same vehicle) * School-bus driver * A boatman * An accountant * bed and breakfast hotel keeper (including renting

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

s to tourists) * fire chief *

insurance agent Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

pump attendant * pier master *

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

* registrar of births, marriages and deaths *

rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

collector *

shopkeeper A shopkeeper is a retail merchant or tradesman; one who owns or operates a small store or shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as such. At larger companies, a shopkeeper is usually referred t ...

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

* Barman * He also used to deliver the beer to the island's local pub McSporran began in 1965 as postmaster and shopkeeper and gradually increased his responsibilities. In 1989 he received the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

for his services. McSporran announced his retirement in April 2000 at the age of 62. In an interview he said that his wife had been a great help with his multiple duties. His brother is Willie McSporran. McSporran was featured in the widely used English textbooks for adults ''New Headway Elementary'' and ''New Headway Elementary 3rd Edition''.

References

BBC: Man of many jobs retires

{{DEFAULTSORT:McSporran, Seamus 1938 births category:Officers in Scottish police forces Living people People from Argyll and Bute Recipients of the British Empire Medal Scottish police officers Isle of Gigha Fire chiefs