X Joseph James MURRAYDear Howard,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Joseph 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, that is to say we may, there areliterally hundreds of photographs of officers, buttheir names were never recorded on the reverse ofthe photograph.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 5. 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.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 comments good or badthat you may wish to make please do so? If youhave any further questions please don't hesitateto contact me. Jim Talbot. Trustee and Researcher,Cheshire Museum of Policing.Collar Number/Rank. Inspector 353 Joseph JamesMURRAYBorn. Oct, Nov Dec Quarter 1882, Ellesmere,Salop.Date of Entry. 28th March 1903Date of Leaving. 30th April 1929Final Date of Leaving. 30th April 1929How Discharged. To Pension.Initial Posting. HQ ChesterOther Postings and Dates. 23rd May 1903Middlewich, 18th August 1907 Scholar Green, 1stJuly 1910 Mow Cop, 1st June 1913 Northwich, 1stJune 1918 Tarvin, 10th March 1923 Ellesmere Port,1st November 1925 Dukinfield.Miscellaneous Information. Previous OccupationEngine Cleaner. Prior undated service of 2 years27 days with Post Office. Religion Protestant,Height 5' 10", Age 21, Eyes Grey, Hair Brown,Complexion Fresh, Build Proportional. Scar leftcheek.1891. Parents James Murray, Born Circa 1857Ellesmere, Whitchurch, Salop. OccupationBlacksmith. Sarah A. Murray Born Circa 1859Ellesmere, Whitchurch, Salop. Residence Way Mills,Whitchurch, SalopMisconduct. No Misconduct reports recorded.Weekly Pay/Promotion 28th March 1903 25/1d, 1stApril 1904 26/3d, 1st April 1905 26/10d. 1st April1906 28/-, 1st April 1908 29/2d. 28th March 191030/4d. 1st April 1912 32/8d, 1st June 1914Promoted Acting Sgt, 28th March 1915 33/3d, 1stJuly 1915 36/2d, 30th September 1918 Promoted Sgt39/1d, 30th September 1918 47/3d, 10th November1918 57/-, 1st April 1919 102/6d, 30th September1919 105/-, 30th September 1920 107/6d, 30thSeptember 1921 110/-, 30th September 1922 112/6d,10th March 1923 Promoted Inspector at £360 perannum. 10th March 1924 £330. 10th March 1925 £340,10th March 1926 £350. 10th March 1927 £360.Discharged on a pension of £240.0s.0d per annum.Age on retirement 48 years 6 months, Total service26 years 34 days. Died 18th May 1950. 31st August1950 Widow Matty (Mary) Murray to receive weeklypension of 49/-.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. Nonerecorded.Marriage RecordName. Joseph James MURRAYOccupation. Police OfficerAge. 23 years.Condition. Bachelor.Place of residence at Marriage. Middlewich.Date of Marriage. 28th March 1905Place Married. Priors Lea, Church Salop.Fathers Name. James MurrayFathers Occupation. BlacksmithSpouse. Mary MORGAN.Occupation. Nil.Age. 23 years.Condition. Spinster.Place of residence. SnedshillFathers Name. John MorganFathers Occupation. Iron Worker.