X Superintendent John McHaleDear Carol,Thank you for your request for informationconcerning John, but first I have to point out afew things. Sadly we do not have a photograph,that is to say we may, there are literallyhundreds of photographs of officers, but theirnames were never recorded on the reverse. Havingsaid this I know where there is one, and I willgive you this in the 'Additional InformationSection' of this report.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; the informationwhich you seek would therefore be recorded inVolume 3. The information regarding his marriageis retained in CJP24/2, 1847-1966. And with regardto his pension CJP20/2/1, 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. But it would beremiss of me if I did not point out that theRecord Office will charge you a minimum of £27 persearch per volume; therefore your total bill wouldbe £81, so please be aware. The Museum charges,for searching the three volumes are on a reducingscale i.e. dependant on the information recorded,the maximum amount payable is £10, whichrepresents good value. Your remittance is £10 andas we are working on a trust basis please forwardpayment by cheque made payable to the 'Museum ofPolicing in Cheshire' and send it to The Curator,Mr. Peter Wroe, Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington, Cheshire. WA1. 1LQ.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.Superintendent McHale is mentioned in Chapter 11.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. 472 Superintendent JohnMcHaleBorn. 1856 Old Trimdon, Durham. (9 miles SouthEast of Durham)Date of Entry. 22nd March 1881.Date of Leaving. 31st May 1912.Final Date of Leaving. 31st May 1912.How Discharged. To PensionInitial Posting. HQ Reserve.Other Postings and Dates. March 1881 Northwich, 25March 1886 Altrincham, 01 November 1886 Northwich,07 July 1887 Altrincham, 01 August 1889 Wirral, 15May 1894 Wilmslow, 01 February 1895 New Ferry, 01November 1897 New Brighton, 16 August 1902Stockport (Hazel Grove) 01 November 1908 Wirral(Liscard).Miscellaneous Information. Subject appears on 1881Census in Northwich as a serving Constableresident at 47 Castle Street, Northwich. 1891Census Subject appears as a serving Sgt inChester. 1901 Census as a serving Inspector inLiscard.Previous Occupation Labourer. Prior service of 4years 4 months with Liverpool Police from 21November 1876 to 15 March 1881 and with regard tothis it may be worthy of contacting MerseysidePolice, the person responsible for their recordsis a Kate McNichol she can be contacted onReligion Roman Catholic, Height 5' 9", Age 25,Eyes Blue, Hair Sandy, Complexion Fresh, BuildProportional. 3rd March 1913 Certificate ofService with character marked "Exemplary" sent tohim. Age on retirement 56 years 10 months, Totalservice 31 years 313 days. Died 20th March 1933aged 76 years.Misconduct. 24th June 1887 Entering a Public Housewhen on duty at Northwich, Reduced to rank ofActing Sgt. (This does not mean he had beendrinking on duty, this was a separate offence, itmerely means as it says, entering a public house.Whether or not he intended to have a drink onewill never know, but it was a very common practicein those days for officers to have a sly drinkwhilst on duty).Weekly Pay/Promotion. 19th March 1881 23/11d, 17thSeptember 1881 24/6d, 9th September 1882 25/8d,22nd March 1884 26/10d, 20th December 1884 28/-,22nd October 1885 29/2d, 25th March 1886 ActingSgt, 1st November 1886 Sgt at 29/2d, 7th July 1887Acting Sgt 29/2d, 1st October 1889 Sgt 31/6d, 1stJuly 1891 34/5d, 1st August 1891 35/-. 1st August1893 37/4d.Annual Pay/Promotion. 15th May 1894 PromotedInspector at £100 pa, 1st June 1896 £110, 1stNovember 1897 £120 pa, 1st November 1899 £125 pa,1st November 1901 £130 pa, 16th August 1902Promoted Superintendent at £170. 1st September1904 £180, 1st September 1906 £200.1st November1908 Superintendent 1st Class £200. 1st April 1909Non pensionable allowance of £20 per annum. 1stNovember 1910 £210, 1st April 1911 Non pensionableallowance of £30 per annum. 1st April 1912 £230,1st November 1912 £240. 1st February 1913 £260Discharged on a pension of £173.6s 8d per annum.Total time on pension 17 years 354 days. Totalpension received £3120. 0s. 0d.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. 6th March1883 Rescuing a Thomas Snelson from his house whenon fire at Lostock Gralam, Northwich. Gratuity of5/- by Chief Constable. 22nd March 1884 ForService, 1 Good Conduct Badge, 22nd October 1885Meritorious Service, Merit Badge and Pay, 16thAugust 1912 Granted Their Majesties CoronationMedal 1911. (This medal would have his PoliceService details engraved on its rim).Additional Information. In 2002, I bought a bookentitled 'Helmets, Handcuffs and Hoses' The Storyof the Wallasey Police and Fire Brigade (Part Onedeals with the Police ISBN 0-95177623, then itcost £6.95p, (Part Two deals with the FireBrigade) both by Noel E. Smith. His home addressis 'Sandheys' 164 Rake Lane, Wallasey CH45 1JP,Telephone 0151 639 6923. I trust he is stillaround. I should perhaps explain here thatWallasey was always policed by the CheshireConstabulary until 31st March 1913, when it becamean independent Borough Police Force, in otherwords although Wallasey still being in the CountyCheshire it had an independent Police Force and itwas Superintendent McHale who did indeed hand overthe 'keys' on this date. I suggest you try andobtain this book via the author as on page 17there is a small photograph of SuperintendentMcHale handing over the 'keys', there are alsoseveral photographs of Police Stations etc, and Ifeel certain they will be of great interest toyou. The author may also be able to tell you wherehe obtained the photograph of him handing over the'keys', as I said the Museum does not hold this.Marriage Record.Officer. John Austin McHale (nowhere within hispolice record does is record the name Austin)Occupation. Police Constable.Age. Not stated.Condition. Bachelor.Place of residence at Marriage. Lostock Gralam,Northwich.Date of Marriage. 12th September 1881.Place Married. St. Wilfred's Church, Northwich.Cheshire.Fathers Name. Thomas McHale.Fathers Occupation. Farmer, Durham.Spouse. Elizabeth Nolan.Occupation. Spinster.Age. 25 years.Condition. Spinster.Place of residence. Lostock Gralam, Northwich,Cheshire.Fathers Name. Nicholas Nolan.Fathers Occupation. Joiner, County Wicklow.Ireland.