X Samuel POWELLDear AndrewThank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Samuel 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 and therefore they remain from ourperspective 'unidentified'.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 inVolumes 1 and 2. The information regarding anofficer's marriage is retained in CJP24/21847-1966 oddly enough the marriage is notrecorded, irrespective of when and where themarriage took place it should have been, it wascertainly an offence to fail to declare you weremarried or your intention to do so and the finefrom the Chief Constable was quite steep. Andwith regard to his pension CJP20/2/1, 1857-1965obviously this does not apply as it he did notreach pensionable service.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; so please be aware. The Museumcharges, for searching the three volumes are on areducing scale i.e. dependant on the informationrecorded, the maximum amount payable is £10. Youalso have the additional information from hisprevious police service, this enquiry alone wouldcost you in excess of £30 therefore your totalbill would be in excess of £100. All in all wefeel certain you will agree £10 is value for moneyand as we are working on a trust basis pleaseforward payment via cheque made payable to the'Museum of Policing in Cheshire and forward it toThe Curator, Mr. Peter Wroe, Museum of Policing inCheshire, Warrington Police Station, ArpleyStreet, 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, no weekly days off. It all comes down tothe fact that up until the 1960's every ChiefConstable of Cheshire was an ex military officerand they of course brought with them the militarycodes 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 completed.If you have any further questions please don'thesitate to contact me. Jim Talbot. Trustee andResearcher, Cheshire Museum of Policing.Collar Number/Rank. Sergeant 161 Samuel POWELLBorn. 1834 Baltinglass, County Wicklow. IrelandDate of Entry. 20th September 1861Date of Leaving. 8th March 1876Final Date of Leaving. As above.How Discharged. Death in service.Initial Posting. HQ Reserve, Chester.Other Postings and Dates. 08 October 1861 WirralDivision. 1868 Broxton Division based at Malpas.Miscellaneous Information. Prior service of 5years 4 months with Irish Constabulary joined1856, RIC Reg No 20842. (See below). ReligionProtestant, Height 5' 9", Age 27. Eyes Grey, HairSandy, Complexion Fresh, Build Proportional. Died8 March 1876. 1871 Resident with wife Kate (neeHawbridge born Ireland) and child Samuel RobertPowell born April May June quarter 1869 Malpas(District of Whitchurch South) Baptised 4th July1869 Malpas. I do not know if Samuel is buried inMalpas, but the main church is St. Oswald's, it isin the most beautiful of settings, in fact thereare numerous pictures of the Town on the internet,but in the 1870's it must have been a lovelylittle village. I have also, but only quickly totry to find his wife and son on the 1881 Census,but could not trace them, I am wondering if theyreturned to Ireland?Where the reference BSI appears on the Museumdatabase this applies to a website known as theBlack Sheep Index (www.blacksheepindex.co.uk) thissite has newspaper articles concerning PoliceOfficers. On occasions the officer's full name isnot given, but we have tried to make a matchagainst what the Museum Records show. PC Powell isshow in 1865 whilst serving at Prenton (Wirral)that he stopped a Suicide. There are chargesinvolved to obtain these newspaper cuttings directfrom the owner of the website. It is emphasizedthat the Museum does not known the contents ofthese cuttings and takes no responsibility forthem. The Museum is only showing this as an aidthat there is further information from anothersource.Promotion. Promoted Sergeant July 1868.Misconduct. No Misconduct reports recorded.Weekly Pay. 20th September 1861 appointed extra PCat Tranmere at 20/-. 1st May 1863 20/- to 21/-.May 1866 22/-. July 1868 appointed Sgt at 23/-.August 1868 24/-. April 1869 25/-. March 187026/-. October 1871 28/-. August 1872 29/2d.December 1872 30/4d. September 1874 Merit Class31/6d. September 1875 32/8d. Gratuity of £85 paidto Widow April 1876.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. May 1862assisting in the apprehension of 3 housebreakers,20/- reward from the Chief Constable. September1874 for Long and Meritorious Service, Merit Badgewith Pay.Marriage Record. Nil, presumed in Ireland._______________________________________________________________________ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY RECORDThese records are directly from the NationalArchives in Ireland. Sadly in depth information ontheir service was destroyed many years ago. Whereyou see the Number and in Samuel's case 20842,this has nothing whatsoever to do with his policenumber, at the time of Samuel's service, onlyConstables serving in Dublin were given collarnumbers.No.NAMEAge when AppointedHeightF. I.NATIVECOUNTYReligionIf Married,Date.NATIVECOUNTYOF WIFE20842SamuelPowell22 years5' 9"WicklowProtestantSub InspectorThomas Marcus BrownriggLabourer8/4/1856Reserve 9/8/1856WestmeathFermanaghREWARDSMARKS OF DISTINCTIONAND FAVOURABLE RECORDSPUNISHMENTSIf fined, state the amountIF DISCHARGED, DISMISSED,RESIGNED or DEADState the date thereof.INJURIESReceived on Duty,Date of ReportIf Dead. Probable cause of Death.If resigned, why?Remarks.Resigned1/9/1861"To obtain a better situation, namely joining theEnglish Police"