X Michael MORRISSEYDear Julie,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Michael you would besurprised how many enquires we get from people whonever say please or thank you, right let see if Ican help you.You will be aware that whilst Birkenhead was partof Cheshire in those days, it was actually policedby its own force namely 'Birkenhead BoroughPolice' the force actually came into being in 1833and remained independent until 1967, it was thenamalgamated into the Cheshire Constabulary, butagain this was only for a very short time untilthe local Government boundary changes took placein 1974, then Birkenhead became part of theMerseyside police, all very confusing I know.Things don't get any easier with BirkenheadBorough police records, but briefly some of thePension records are held by the Cheshire RecordOffice Chester under reference CJO20/6/11, someare held by Merseyside Police and sadly when theamalgamation took place in 1967, many of therecords were dumped 'at sea' on the instructionsof the then higher command within BirkenheadBorough Police, I will say no more about that or Iwill end up getting on my 'soap box'. I havelooked at those records that are held by theCheshire Record Office appertaining to BirkenheadBorough and they only hold the briefest ofinformation appertaining to an officers pay (WagesBooks).Only the following is recorded PC4 MichaelMorrissey (taken from the Census born 1839Ireland) on the 10th October 1870 his weekly paywas 22/- of which weekly stoppages were 2d forDoctors Fees (this was to ensure that officersalways had access to medical treatment) and 6dSuperannuation Contributions, so his weekly takehome pay was just 21/3d. I cannot give you adefinitive date when he actually joined the force,but you obviously could get a date on when he moreor less completed his service as the Wages Booksheld at Cheshire Record Office run up 1947, but aword of warning here if you have the recordssearched by the Archivist at the Cheshire RecordOffice they will charge you £27 per volume tosearch, and there would a minimum of 5 volumes tosearch, so please be aware.If you contact the Force Records Manager, Mrs.Kate McNichol at Merseyside police onfurther information, can I say that Merseysidepolice do not have a Museum and Kate must doFamily History enquiries as part of her normalduties, so a reply from her may take a littlelonger.Lastly there is a book that you may be interestedentitled 'Maintaining the Queens Peace' a ShortHistory of the Birkenhead Borough Police, by ExSergeant S. P. Thompson, this book was printed in1958. I have seen it available on the internet,but I am sure your local library will obtain itfor you.If you have any further questions please don'thesitate to contact me.Jim Talbot. Trustee and Researcher, CheshireMuseum of Policing.