X William HARPERDear Mary, (if I may be so bold)Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning William you would besurprised how many enquires we get from people whonever say please or thank you. Sadly I am notgoing to be able to help you much and to try andexplain the reasons why.Although Macclesfield as you know was part ofCheshire at the time it was in fact policed byMacclesfield Borough Police, this force was formedin 1833 and remained independent until it becamepart of the Cheshire Constabulary in 1947.Therefore much of the information appertaining toits officers did not come across to the CheshireConstabulary with the amalgamation. However it ispossible that William was in fact also prior tobecoming a member of Macclesfield Borough Policewas a member of the Cheshire Constabulary, the1841 Census shows him resident at Village Cross,Lymm, with his wife Emma and three children andrecorded as Head Constable of Macclesfield. Lymmwas in fact policed by the Cheshire Constabularyin 1841, but again official records of theCheshire Constabulary do not commence until 1857,and no records exist earlier than this, so I haveno way of confirming this. By the time the 1851Census is taken William is recorded as being theChief Constable of Macclesfield Borough Police andresident at Canal Street, Macclesfield. What we doknow is that he was the third Chief Constable ofMacclesfield taking up the position on the 17thNovember 1842, leaving around the 1st July 1860,and that is basically all that is known, even thebooklet History of Macclesfield Borough Policestates the same.I will attach the booklet of the History of theMacclesfield Borough Police for you to read atyour leisure, it also contains a picture of howthe very first Constable would have appeared.I am truly sorry I have been unable to help you inany great detail but at least by reading the bookyou will get a good in sight to the policing ofMacclesfield at the time William served. Can I askyou when you get a moment would you send a quickmail so I can mark of your enquiry as complete? Ifyou have any further questions please don'thesitate to contact me. Jim Talbot. Trustee andResearcher, Cheshire Museum of Policing.