X John ALLMANDear Sheila,Sounds like an interesting project, it's alwaysnice to be able to put information to a 'gravestone'. But to move on thank you for your nicelyworded request for information concerning John,you would be surprised how many enquires we getfrom people who never say please or thank you, butfirst I have to point out a few things. Sadly wedo not have a photograph, that is to say we may,there are literally hundreds of photographs ofofficers, but their names were recorded on thereverse of the photograph so from the Museumspoint they 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 3. The information regarding his marriagesis 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.If you also read the history of the CheshireConstabulary "To the Best of Our Skill andKnowledge" which is on the Museum Web Site, underthe drop down menu marked 'History', 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.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. I look forward whencomplete to receiving John's family history.Jim Talbot. Trustee and Researcher, CheshireMuseum of Policing.Collar Number/Rank. PC 255 and 311 John ALLMAN.(His collar number would have changed upon beingposted from Division to another)Born. 1854 Prestbury, Cheshire.Date of Entry. 22nd October 1878Date of Leaving. 31st October 1904Final Date of Leaving. 31st October 1904How Discharged. To pension.Initial Posting. Reserve Division, Headquarters,Chester.Other Postings and Dates. November 1878 Nantwich,May 1879 Broxton Division which would cover thearea of Aldford 6th February 1888 StockportDivision, which would cover the area of Wilmslow.2nd May 1896 Great Budworth, 1st June 1903 LittleNeston.Miscellaneous Information. Previous OccupationLabourer. Religion Protestant, Height 5' 11", Age24, Eyes Grey, Hair Brown, Complexion Fresh, BuildProportional. 31st October 1905 Certificate ofService with character marked "Very Good" sent.Age on retirement 50 years.Total service 26 years 10 months.Died 08/12/1920 aged 66 years 1 month.Note written on page states "Clara Hannah AllmanDied 8th January 1958, address given as 'Everest',Milner Road, Heswall"Misconduct. 12th January 1891, entering aRefreshment House in Manchester when conveying aprisoner to Strangeways Prison, Fined 5/- by ChiefConstable.Promotion. None.Weekly Pay. October 1878 23/11d. February 187924/6d (See Good Conduct) August 1879 25/8d.December 1879 26/10d. 30th September 1883 28/-.1st July 1891 31/6d. 8th May 1892 32/8d.Annual pay on retirement £85. 3s. 4d.Discharged with a pension of £56.15s.6d per annum.Total time on pension 16 years 39 days.Total pension received £914. 10s. 0d.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. 22ndFebruary 1879 In consequence of the diligent andpraiseworthy manner in which PC's John Allman andJohn Ratcliffe, H Division (Nantwich) haveperformed their duties and as an encouragement toother young Constables the Chief Constable ispleased to promote them to the pay of 24/6d perweek from this date.15th October 1881 For Service1 Good Conduct Badge, 30th September 1883 ForService, 1 Good Conduct Badge. 8th May1892 Longand Meritorious Service, Merit Badge and Pay of 2dper Diem.Marriage Record 1.Name/Officer. John ALLMANOccupation. Brick maker.Age. 25 years.Condition. BachelorPlace of residence at Marriage. 'Over' (It doesnot actually state which 'Over' but it may well beOver, Winsford.Date of Marriage. 30th July 1876.Place Married. Parish Church, Prestbury, Cheshire.Fathers Name. James ALLMAN.Fathers Occupation. Labourer.Spouse. Ann HODGKINSONOccupation. Servant.Age. 20 yearsCondition. Spinster.Place of residence. Over.Fathers Name. Charles HODGKINSONFathers Occupation. Salt Boiler, Cheshire.Marriage Record 2.Officer. John ALLMANOccupation. Police ConstableAge. 47 yearsCondition. WidowerPlace of residence at Marriage. Great Budworth.Date of Marriage. 1st February 1898Place Married. Parish Church, Lower Peover.Fathers Name. James ALLMAN (Deceased)Fathers Occupation. Labourer, Cheshire.Spouse. Clara Hannah BURROWSOccupation. ServantAge. 30 yearsCondition. SpinsterPlace of residence. Little PeoverFathers Name. James BURROWSFathers Occupation. Salt Boiler, Cheshire.John Allman 1854 - 1920Walk along the path that leads away from thechurch tower on the left and it winds its waythrough the gravestones down to the River Dean.John Allman's grave is situated on the left by thetree a few yards from the riverJohn Allman was born in Prestbury in 1854, hisfather James was a laborer and his mother wascalled Elizabeth. At the time he joined the policeforce he was working as a brick maker inCoddington. On joining the Cheshire Constabularyin October 1878 at his age of 24, his pay was23/11d per week.According to records, PC 255 was 5' 11'' tall, hadgrey eyes and brown hair and a fresh complexion.He began his career in the reserve division atHeadquarters Chester but then went to Nantwich.Over the course of his career he worked in anumber of Cheshire towns and villages and for awhile was the policeman for Handforth, During histime with Cheshire Constabulary John was posted toNantwich, Broxton where he was based for 11 yearsand included Aldford where many of his childrenwere born, Stockport, Great Budworth and finallyLittle Neston. He retired in October 1904 havingcompleted 26 years 10 months of service. Heremained a constable throughout his career and hisrecord shows just one act of misconduct. InJanuary 1891 he entered a refreshment house inManchester while escorting a prisoner toStrangeways Prison. This cost him a fine of 5/-.At the time of this offence it was the rule thatofficers were not allowed to drink on or off dutyeven in their own homes and the fines weresomewhat harsh given wages at the time.In February 1879,just 4 months after joining theforce, and together with another colleague Johnwas awarded a pay rise to 24/6d in recognition ofthe diligent and praiseworthy way he had performedhis duties and as an encouragement to otherconstables. In 1881 he was awarded a Good ConductBadge, in 1883 he received another Good ConductBadge for Service and in May 1892 he received hisLong and Meritorious Service badge together with'2d per diem'.Ann, his wife, was working as a servant when shemarried John on 30 July 1876 at Prestbury ParishChurch. She was born in Winsford and her fatherJohn Hodgkinson was a salt boiler. John and Annhad nine children including twins Charles andJames. Ann died in 1896, just three years afterAlice their youngest daughter was born.James, one of the twins is buried with hisparents. He died in January 1914. Before hismarriage to Alice he lived at Oak Cottages inStyal with six of his brothers and sisters. Andwas employed as a cotton bleacher. He was just 30when he died.The same year George Allman, the youngest son ofAnn and John, was killed in action at Ypres. Hewas a member of the Cheshire Regiment, whichformed part of the 15th Infantry Brigade. He wasinvolved in a big attack against the Germansbetween 14th and 17th November 1914 defending aposition on the Ypres to Menin Road. He wasawarded the Victory Medal and the British Medal.He is remembered on the Ypres (Menin Gate)Memorial. He was married to Kathleen and at thetime of his death she was living in Belfast.John and Ann's other children were Joseph, Jesse,(who married Jane Leah in 1900 and had a daughterSarah. At the time of the 1901 census they wereliving at Farm Fold Styal, Jesse was a Tinner atthe Bleach Works and Jane was a cotton weaver),Emma, John jnr, Charles and AnnieAlso in the grave is Clara Hannah, she was thesecond wife of John. In 1896 John was posted toGreat Budworth and it was in February 1898 at theParish Church, Great Budworth, that they weremarried. She was a 30-year-old spinster at thetime, daughter of James Burrows, also a saltboiler.They lived at the Police Station in Great Budworthand the 1901 census shows that in 1899 they had ason of their own, Lawrence. The census shows thatGeorge, then aged 12, was also living with them inGreat Budworth.That year Joseph, aged 24,Emma, 18, Charles, 17James, 17,John jnr, 15, Annie, 13, were all livingtogether at Oak Cottages in Styal. John jnr andJames were working at the bleach works inHandforth and the others were working as cottonweavers, presumably at nearby Quarry Bank Mill.Eight-year-old Alice was also living with them.With thanks to Jim Talbot, Museum of Policing,CheshireThe Project Gutenberg Book The Doings of theFifteenth Infantry Brigade by Edward Lord GleichenNational Census