X Arthur PHILLIPSDear David,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Arthur 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 so from the Museums perspectivethey remain unidentifiable.The Cheshire Constabulary was formed in April1857; there are many thousands of records, theseare held by the Cheshire Record Office, Chester.As a retired Police officer and voluntary PoliceMuseum Researcher I 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.Further, there are 33 Volumes each containingapproximately 400 pages of General Orders, theseare basically the everyday events of the CheshireConstabulary and date from April 1857 to 1946,they are also normally held at the Record Officein Chester under reference CJP4, however they arepresently held by the Museum. Each Volume ishandwritten and although they can be scanned theycannot be searched to extract the information asthe character recognition software just does notrecognise handwriting. They are therefore beingtranscribed into a searchable word document, whichis a very long and slow process, only the yearsfrom 1857 to 1884 are complete. In this particularinstance the remaining records have been searchedup until your Grandfather left the CheshireConstabulary.On the 1st April 1913 the Wallasey Borough Policewas formed and men from the Cheshire Constabularytransferred their service to this new BoroughPolice Force, the main head quarters being atManor Road, Wallasey. This building still existsbut is no longer used as a police station Iunderstand it is now used by some part of thelocal Council.Within this building was a bronze plaquecontaining all the names of those police officers,including Arthur's, that were killed during bothWorld Wars? I do not know if the plaque is stillthere or if it has been removed and placed in thenew police station which is about 200 yardsfurther up Manor Road however, an email to theMerseyside Police Force Records Manager Mrs. Kateshe may be able to give its location.Because Wallasey Borough Police was a totallyseparate force its records have not, with theexception of CJP13/4, Register of Constablesdeclared into office, been viewed by this Museum,but by comparison the records are far smaller thanthat of the Cheshire Constabulary and to this endI have attached a list of what is held at theChester Record Office for Wallasey Borough Police.And here I must stress if you should wish to haveany of these records researched by the RecordsOffice please ensure you get a quote as to howmuch it will cost before going ahead.I also urge you to try and obtain a copy of a booktitled Helmets, Handcuffs and Horses. The Story ofthe Wallasey Police and Fire Brigade, Part One, byNoel E. Smith (ISBN 0-9517762-3-1) it containsmany photographs of Wallasey Borough Policeincluding Manor Road Police Station, and Arthur isnamed saying he was killed in action.Where the reference BSI appears in this Museumsdatabase this applies to a website known as theBlack Sheep Index www.blacksheepindex.co.uk thisis a site that carries newspaper articlesconcerning Police Officers. On occasions theofficer's full name is not given, but we havetried to make a match against what the MuseumRecords show. Arthur is shown as being 'Killed inAction' in 1916. There are charges involved toobtain these newspaper cuttings direct from theowner of the website. It is emphasized that theMuseum does not know the contents of thesecuttings and takes no responsibility for them. TheMuseum is only showing this as an aid that thereis further information from another source. If youshould decide that you would like this cuttingplease mention this Museums name, whilst you willnot get it any cheaper it may just help speed upthe process.I say all this because I want to try and reassureyou that what I give you is as it appears in therespective volumes for Cheshire Constabulary.However if you so wish, you can of course have therecords confirmed by the Chester Records OfficeArchivist. But it would be remiss of me if I didnot point out that The Record Office will chargeyou a minimum of £27 per search per volume;therefore your bill should you wish to have allthe above mentioned Volumes searched would amountto several hundreds of pounds, so please be aware.The cost of this report is £10, and given theabove information I feel certain that you willagree that this represents value for money.Payment can be made by going to the Museum websitewww.museumofpolicingincheshire.org.uk within thedrop down 'Index' is the section marked 'FamilyResearch' there it will be seen 'Pay-Pal orDebit/Credit Card' click on this and follow theinstructions.If you also read the history of the CheshireConstabulary by going to the web site, INDEX dropdown menu, HISTORY and look for "To the Best ofOur Skill and Knowledge" I feel certain that auseful picture can be obtained of life in theforce at the time, my own opinion is thatdiscipline was draconian and those who strayedoutside the rule's 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. It allcomes down to the fact that up until the 1960'severy Chief Constable of Cheshire was an exmilitary officer and they of course brought withthem the military codes of practice.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 complete,this is important as whilst we are not funded bythe Cheshire Constabulary, they are still our'masters' so to speak and I have to account forthe information I send out. If you have anycomments good or bad and you wish to make themplease do so?If you have any further questions please don'thesitate to contact me.Jim TalbotTrustee and Researcher, Cheshire Museum ofPolicing.Collar Number/Rank. Sergeant Arthur PHILLIPSBorn. 1881 Edge, Malpas, Cheshire.Date of Entry. 3rd May 1902Date of Leaving. 31st March 1913Re-appointed. 1st April 1913Final Date of Leaving. 1st April 1913How Discharged. Transferred to Wallasey BoroughPoliceInitial Posting. HQ Reserve Division, Chester.Other Postings and Dates. 7th June 1902 Crewe; 1stAugust 1907 Aston Nantwich; 1st March 1909Tarporley; 1st April 1911 New Brighton.Miscellaneous Information. Previous OccupationPotters Pressman. Religion Protestant, Height 5'11", Age 21, Eyes Grey, Hair Brown, ComplexionFair, Build Proportional. Distinguishing Marks,Scar on forehead.The Generations NetworkPromotion. 1st August 1907promoted Acting Sergeant. 1st March 1909 promotedSergeant.Misconduct. No Misconduct reports recorded.Weekly Pay. 3rd May 1902 25/1d, 1st June 190326/3d, 1st June 1904 26/10d, 1st June 1905 28/-.1st June 1907 29/2d, 1st March 1909 Sgt 33/3d, 1stMarch 1911 34/5d, 1st April 1912 36/9d, 1st March1913 37/11d.Other information. 1911 Census resident at thePolice Station New Brighton, again there is aphotograph of this station in the Wallasey Book.1901 Census attached. 1891 Census attached.22810 CQMS A. Phillips, 20th Battalion KingsLiverpool Regiment (Liverpool Pals)Killed in Action on the Somme, France 1st July1916, aged 35 years, commemorated on the ThiepvalMemorial Pier and Face 1D, 8B and 8C.The following records have also been searchedwithin "find my past" British Army Records1656-1994 and 1760-1913. Soldiers Died in theGreat War 1914-1919 (Traced). National Roll of theGreat War 1914-1918. De Ruvigny's Roll 1914-1918.Marriage RecordOfficer. Arthur PHILLIPSOccupation. Police ConstableAge. 23 yearsCondition. BachelorPlace of residence at Marriage. 220 Market Street,Crewe, Cheshire.Date of Marriage. 12th August 1904.Place Married. St. James Parish Church NewBrighton.Fathers Name. James PHILLIPS.Fathers Occupation. Farmer.Spouse. Mary Bebb RYDEROccupation. Not recorded.Age. 26 yearsCondition. SpinsterPlace of residence. Earlston Road, New Brighton,Cheshire.Fathers Name. Thomas RYDER (Deceased)Fathers Occupation. Warehouseman