X Joseph ROYLE.Dear Gill (If I may be so bold)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.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 marriagesshould have been retained in CJP24/2, 1847-1966,and it is very strange that it is not. It was anoffence under the then Regulations for an officerto join the force and not declare his marriage, orhaving joined the force and then married, did sowithout first seeking the permission of the ChiefConstable to marry. It normally resulted in ahefty fine or even dismissal.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 £54, 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 £5 andas we are working on a trust basis please forwardpayment by cheque made payable to 'The Museum ofPolicing in Cheshire' and forward it to TheCurator, 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. 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 ascompleted? If you have any further questionsplease don't hesitate to contact me, I am justsorry that there is not a great deal ofinformation to give you. Jim Talbot. Trustee andResearcher, Cheshire Museum of Policing.Collar Number/Rank. PC295 Joseph ROYLE.Born. 1855 Over (Winsford) Cheshire.Date of Entry. 15th January 1878Date of Leaving. 17th August 1885Final Date of Leaving. 17th August 1885How Discharged. Resigned.Initial Posting. HQ Chester Reserve.Other Postings and Dates. February 1878 Runcorn.Miscellaneous Information. Subject appears on 1871Census as an apprentice Wheelwright at Winsford,Cheshire. 1881 Census shows subject as a servingConstable, resident at The Cottage, Moor, Runcorn.1891 Census shows subject in Parish Pay inWinsford. Previous occupation given as Joiner.Religion Protestant, Height 5' 8", Age 23, EyesBlue, Hair Brown, Complexion Fresh, BuildProportional. Burn scar on right leg. MarriedElizabeth Gaunt 27th September 1875 at MiddlewichWesleyan Chapel. (Taken from Ancestry UK.) DiedOct Quarter 1894Promotion/Misconduct. No Misconduct reportsrecords. Joseph is an exception to the rule asthere are not many officers at this time that didnot fall foul of the then Chief Constable CaptainArrowsmith, it is my opinion and I have every wordthe Chief Constables wrote, that he was nothingshort of an autocratic bully, I could go on.Weekly Pay. January 1878 23/11d. June 1878 24/6d.December 1879 25/8d. February 1881 26/10d. 13thJanuary 1883 28/-. Discharged with a Gratuity of£35Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. February1881 for service, awarded 1 Good Conduct Badge.You may be interested to note that late last yeara former Winsford Police Officer Paul Hurleypublished his latest book "Winsford Through Time"which depicts photographs of old and modernWinsford, it is available via the internet, butthe best price I have seen it at is £7.94 fromhttp://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781848687967/Winsford-Through-TimeI also reside in Winsford and this morning I wentto Well Street, with the intention of seeing ifnumber 50 was still there, and indeed it is, Iwould have taken a photograph but for someinexplicable reason my camera would not work. Soif you would like a photograph, I will wheneverthe camera is repaired take one for you, pleaselet me know.