X Thomas BELLDear Carl,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Thomas you would besurprised how many enquires we get from people whonever say please or thank you, but first I have topoint out a few things. Sadly we do not have aphotograph, when I say this I really mean we mayhave photographs and there a hundreds but sadlywhen we found them all none of the officer'sdetails were recorded on the reverse, but if youdo we would appreciate a scanned copy for ourrecords.The Cheshire Constabulary was formed in April1857; there are many thousands of records, theseare held by the Cheshire Record Office, Chester. Ias a retired Police officer and voluntary PoliceMuseum Researcher am slowly extracting theserecords. However, Thomas was never a member of theCheshire Constabulary, but Warrington BoroughPolice. To try an explain the difference, prior toall the County Forces being formed in 1857, manyBorough's had their own Police Force, Warringtonthen part of Lancashire County being one of them,it came into being in 1847 and remained this wayuntil it was amalgamated into CheshireConstabulary in 1974 when the Government of theday brought Warrington within the Boundaries ofCheshire.If you go to the Museum Web page and look in theHistory Section the short History of theWarrington Borough Police is available for you toread. I feel certain that a useful picture can beobtained of life in the force at the time, my ownopinion is that discipline was severe and thosewho strayed outside the rules were fined way abovewhat they earned or dismissed. Also therestrictions on their private life, an officer wasnot allowed to drink on or off duty even in hisown home. I don't know where you reside but theMuseum is situated at Warrington Police Station,it is well worth a visit. If you contact theCurator Mr. Peter Wroe, who in fact is a retiredWarrington Borough Police Officer, he will makearrangements for you to visit. Sadly it is notopen full time at the moment due to it not havingdisabled access. The Museum is particularly wellblessed with Warrington Borough Police artifacts.The information concerning Thomas is how itappears in the respective volumes CJP20/12/1 andCJP20/12/2 I want to assure you that what I giveyou is as it appears in those volumes. However ifyou so wish, you can of course have the recordsconfirmed by the Chester Records Office Archivist.But it would be remiss of me if I did not pointout that whilst this Museum works on a maximumcharge of £10, you're invoice being £6, the RecordOffice however, will charge you a minimum of £27per search per volume; therefore your total billwould be £52 so please be aware. There are veryfew officers in Warrington Borough that have clearrecords, Thomas appears to be an exception to therule as he does not have Discipline Offencesrecorded against him.I trust you will enjoy what follows and can I askyou when you get a moment would you send a quickmail so I can mark of your enquiry as completed.If you have any further questions please don'thesitate to contact me. Jim Talbot. Trustee andResearcher, Cheshire Museum of Policing.Collar Number/Rank. Sgt 35 and 8 Thomas BELL.(It appears to be an anomaly of the Borough Forcesthat on promotion from PC to Sgt they were issuedwith a different collar number, Thomas's firstnumber being 35)Born. Circa 1856 Heatley, Cheshire. (None of therecords until post 1900 give the officers fulldate of birth)Date of Entry. 23 April 1885.Date of Leaving. 23 April 1910.Final Date of Leaving. 23 April 1910How Discharged. To Pension.Initial and only Posting. Borough of Warrington.Miscellaneous Information on joining Trade orCalling. Waterman, Last employer James Lowe,Bridgewater Canal Co, Latchford. Height 5' 9",Age, 29 years, Hair Brown, Eyes Blue, ComplexionFresh, Distinguishing Marks, Tattoo marks botharms. Marital Status, Married, Children Two.Member of any Party or Society, Nil. Total Service25 years. 1885 address at joining date 26 BarryStreet, Latchford, this also being his address onthe 1881 Census, when employed as a Waterman.Promotion/Misconduct. No Misconduct reportsrecorded.Weekly Pay 24 April 1885 25/-, 05 November 188526/-, 23 April 1886 27/-, 28 April 1887 28/-, 12February 1891 Merit Class at 29/-, 15 July 1897Promoted Sgt at 31/6d. 07 April 1898 33/-, 14 July1898 34/-, 13 July 1899 35/-. 12 July 1900 36/-,18 July 1901 37/-, 17 July 1902 38/-. Dischargedon a pension of £61. 5s. 1d per annum.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. No GoodConduct reports recorded.The Curator, Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 1LQ