X Thomas STEELEDear Ann,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Thomas 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, but if you do we would appreciate ascanned copy for our records.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 CJP24/2,1847-1966, however, I presume he was perhapsmarried in Liverpool and prior to him joiningCheshire and therefore there is no record of hismarriage. And with regard to his pensionCJP20/2/1, 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 whilstthis Museum works on a donation basis, (madepayable to the Museum of Policing in Cheshire).The Record Office however, will charge you aminimum of £27 per search per volume; thereforeyour total bill would be £81 so please be aware.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 severe and those who strayedoutside the rules 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 will also attach photographs from my personale-mail of the Police Stations that he worked from,the town of Winsford is where I also started myservice, and is where I also reside. It had twoPolice stations in the early 1900's, one on themain High Street which closed about 5 years agoand now being converted to flats the other in WestDudley Street, this has been a hairdressers formore years than I can remember. I have alsoattached the Northwich Divisional HQ. His addressin Ways Green, Over, is still in existence but Iam unsure if the house still stands.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. PC 194 Thomas STEELE.Born. Circa 1815 Kirk Michael, Dumfriesshire,Scotland.Date of Entry. 20 April 1854Date of Leaving. 21 April 1876Final Date of Leaving.21 April 1876How Discharged. Pensioned.Initial Posting. HQ Reserve.Other Postings and Dates. Northwich Division.Stationed at Over (Winsford)Miscellaneous Information. Subject appears on1861-1871 Census in Wharton, Winsford as a servingConstable. 1881 Census residing in Winsford as aretired Constable. Prior service of 12 years withLiverpool Borough Police. Cheshire Old Force 3years 3 months.Religion Protestant, Height 5' 8", Age 42, EyesBlue, Hair Dark Brown, Complexion Pale, BuildProportional. Total service 22 years 92 days. Ageon retirement 61 years. Died 22 February 1887,aged 71 years 9 months. Residence in 1881 2 WaysGreen, Over, Cheshire. (Over is used very littlenow and the more common place name is Winsford)Promotion/Misconduct. No Misconduct reportsrecorded. Pay 01 June 1857 19/- to 20/- pw. 22February 1858 20/- to 21/- pw. June 1860 ActingSgt. 05 June 1863 Merit Class 22/2d. May 1866 PCat 23/2d. August 1868 24/6d. August 1872 25/8d.December 1872 26/10d. January 1876 28/-. Annualpay on retirement £73. 0s. 0d. Discharged with aPension of £40 per annum. Total time on pension 10years 307 days. Total pension received £433. 12s.10d.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. June 1863Long and Meritorious Service, awarded Merit Badgeand 2d per day additional pay.The Curator, Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 1LQ