X John Wilkinson SMITHDear Helen,Your enquiry has been passed from the main PoliceHead Quarters, Winsford, through to the Museum forfurther enquiries. Firstly thank you for yournicely worded request for information concerningJohn you would be surprised how many enquires weget from people who never say please or thank you,but first I have to point out a few things. Sadlyon this occasion I think we are unable to help youand to try and explain the reasons why.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. Cheshire Police Officer Enrolment Recordsare held under Reference CJP7 Volumes 1-5. Thesefive volumes are very large and in poor condition,run from 1857- 22 March 1913. Informationregarding an officer's marriage is retained inCJP24/2, 1847-1966. And with regard to his pensionCJP20/2/1, 1857-1965. Every single officer'sdetails have been extracted from these records andcompiled in a database, which holds 14000+records.You will note that the Constabulary was formed inApril 1857; prior to this the County was policedby what was known as Parish Constables, these andthe very early history of the force can be readabout on the Museum Web Site. Constables servingin the force prior to this date (April 1857) fallinto two categories, 1st if they servedimmediately, and the emphasis is on immediately,prior to the new force being formed the officersdetails would have been recorded in Volume 1 astheir service would be continuous. 2nd If theofficer left the force immediately before the newforce was formed his details would be recorded ona "Return of Officers NOT retained in the newforce" these are recorded within CJP9/9. We thenhave a set of records that every officer whoserved in the old force and came into the newforce had to fill in his marriage details, Johndoes not appear here and these go back to 1847, sothis tells us that he did not serve post 1857. Wehave in recent months trawled the 1851 Census forCheshire and extracted every police officer,bearing in mind that not every page in the Censusis fully readable, again John does not appear. Inconclusion this tells me that John may have servedas a County Police Officer post 1851 Census andpre 1857, there is good evidence within ourrecords that very few officers completed serviceof any length. The pay would have been about 19/-per week, which was pretty poor and no housingbenefits so to speak.Without making things even more complicated at thetime the new Cheshire Constabulary was formed in1857, numerous other police force were inoperation in the County, these were know asBorough Police Forces, these were Macclesfield,Congleton, Birkenhead, Stockport and Chester CityPolice Force, these were only responsible fortheir own Borough's and Chester City of coursebeing responsible for Chester. What records thereare for these police forces this museum holdsthem? Chester City police force was formed in1833, and because Great Saughall may have beenwithin its boundaries one perhaps could think thatJohn may have served within the Chester CityPolice, but you have said that on the Certificateit states he was a County Constable, which clearlymeans he was a Cheshire police officer.If you 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 The Record Office will charge you aminimum of £27 per search per volume; thereforeyour total bill would be £81, so please be aware.If you also read the history of the CheshireConstabulary "To the Best of Our Skill andKnowledge" which is on the Museum Web Site, I feelcertain that a useful picture can be obtained oflife in the force at the time, my own opinion isthat discipline was draconian and those whostrayed outside the rule's 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. It all comes down to the fact that upuntil the 1960's every Chief Constable of Cheshirewas an ex military officer and they of coursebrought with them the military codes of practice.The Museum is open to the public via priorappointment on Mondays and Fridays, depending ifyou reside close enough the Curator, Mr. PeterWroe, would be delighted to see you. He may becontacted via the website; the address of theMuseum is Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington, Cheshire. WA1. 1LQ.Can I ask you when you get a moment would you senda quick mail so I can mark of your enquiry ascomplete? If you have any further questions pleasedon't hesitate to contact me. Jim Talbot. Trusteeand Researcher, Cheshire Museum of Policing.