X John William LEIGHTON.Dear Lynda (if I may be so bold)Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation on John, you would be surprised howmany enquires we get from people who never sayplease or thank you. I also must point out a fewthings before giving you the details you seek.Sadly we do not have a photograph of John, but ifyou do we would appreciate a scanned copy for ourrecords.The Cheshire Constabulary was formed in April1857; there are many thousands of records, theseare owned by the Cheshire Constabulary but held atthe Cheshire Record Office, Chester. I as aretired Police officer and voluntary Police MuseumResearcher am slowly extracting these records.Cheshire Police Officer Enrolment Records are heldunder Reference CJP7 Volumes 1-5. These fivevolumes are very large and in poor condition, runfrom 1857-1913; the information I am giving you isrecorded in Volumes 1 and 2. The informationregarding his marriage is retained in CJP24/2,1847-1966 and with regard to his Pension detailsCJP20/2/1, 1857-1965.I say all this because I want to try and reassureyou that what I give you is as it appears in therespective volumes. However, if you so wish youcan of course have the records confirmed by theChester Records Office Archivist, or by your goodself, depending on where you reside. But it wouldbe remiss of me not to tell you that if you areunable to search the records at Chester Archives,and whilst the Museum works on a donation basis,the Archives will charge you in excess of £100 forsearching the Volumes I have mentioned.Can I suggest you visit the Museum Website (theaddress is at the top of the page) There you canalso read the history of the Cheshire Constabulary"To the Best of Our Skill and Knowledge" I feelcertain that a useful picture can be obtained oflife in the force at the time, my own opinion isthat discipline was severe and those who strayedoutside the rules were fined way above what theyearned or dismissed. Also the restrictions ontheir private life, an officer was not allowed todrink on or off duty even in his own home, leavehis district even when off duty with first seekingpermission, otherwise this would be classed as'absent without leave' and normally a fine wouldbe imposed. It all comes down to the fact that upuntil the 1940's every Chief Constable of Cheshirewas an ex military officer and they of coursebrought with them the military codes of practice.However, in John's case he has no MisconductReports recorded against him. With this being the150 year anniversary of the Cheshire Constabularythere are plans by the Constabulary to reprint thebook "To the Best of Our Skill and Knowledge" somecopies will be made available to those interestedparties, but the cost has not yet been determined.If you also read the 'News' on the site you willsee a reference to a 'Certificate of Service' andof course John's, if you are interested, wouldread "Most Exemplary". Unfortunately we have hadto put it on the website in a very low resolutionas several unscrupulous people have attempted tocopy it.I wish you luck in any further research you mayhave planned. In order that I can mark off yourenquiry as being complete would you be so kind asto send a short mail. Best wishes, Jim TalbotTrustee and Researcher for the Museum of Policingin Cheshire.Collar Number/Rank. Superintendent 112 JohnWilliam LEIGHTON.Born. 1836 Cheadle, Cheshire.Date of Entry. 21 April 1864.Date of Leaving. 31 July 1891.Re-appointed. N/A.Final Date of Leaving. 31 July 1891.How Discharged. On Pension.Initial Posting. HQ Reserve.Other Postings and Dates. Posted 22 April 1864Bucklow; 1871 Eddisbury; 1874 Altrincham.Miscellaneous Information. Prior undated serviceof 3 years 3 months with Manchester BoroughPolice. Religion Protestant, Height 5' 8", Age 28,Eyes Grey, Hair Brown, Complexion Fresh, BuildProportional. Three Testimonials, Character "MostExemplary" Certificate of Service sent to him 31July 1891. Age on retirement 55 years 3 days.Died 05 May 1899, aged 63 years.Promotion/Misconduct/Pension. No Misconductreports recorded. Pay 23 January 1865 20/-pw. 01June 1865 20/- to 21/- pw. January 1868 22/-.November 1869 23/4d. March 1870 Promoted ActingSgt 24/-. January 1871 Sgt at 24/-. October 187125/-. March 1872 26/-. August 1872 28/-.December1872 29/2d. January 1874 30/4d. April 1874 31/6d.September 1875 32/8d. January 1876 33/10d.February 1876 Promoted Inspector at £90 per annum.July 1876 £100 per annum. February 1878 £110 perannum. September 1879 Promoted Chief Inspector. 11July 1882 Promoted to Supt at £130 per annum. 01August 1882 £140 per annum. 01 November 1883 £150per annum. 01 June 1884 £160 per annum. 25 July1885 £165 per annum. 30 September 1889 £192.10s.0dper annum. 01 July 1891 £200 per annum. Totallength of Service 27 years 102 days. Annual pay onretirement £200. Discharged on a Pension of£133.6s.8d. per annum. Length of time on pension 7years 278 days. Total pension drawn £1035.0s 1d.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. January1865 Apprehending John Browndritt at Night forLead Stealing, Promoted to 20/- per week. December1865 Apprehension of William Hill a Deserter, 20/-War Office. January 1867 Detecting several Personscommitting Willful Damage, Received £4 from ownerof property, April 1874 Long and MeritoriousService Merit Badge and Pay. July 1876 CleverCapture of Burglars, Promoted to £100 per annum.Residence in 1881, the Police Station, 33 ChapelRoad, Sale, Cheshire. Also noted on the 1861,1871, 1891 Census returns.Officer. John William LEIGHTON.Occupation. Police ConstableAge. 30.Condition. Bachelor.Place of residence at Marriage. High Leigh.CheshireDate of Marriage. 23 February 1868.Place Married. Parish Church Rostherne Cheshire.Fathers Name. John LEIGHTONFathers Occupation. Farmer, Cheshire.Spouse. Isabella SPENCERLEY.Occupation. Nil.Age. 26.Condition. Spinster.Place of residence. High Leigh, Cheshire.Date of Marriage. 23 February 1868.Place Married. Parish Church Rostherne, CheshireFathers Name. James SPENCERLEY.Fathers Occupation. Game Keeper. CheshireThe Curator, Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 1LQ