X James and Thomas BOWYER.Dear Susie,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning James and Thomas you wouldbe surprised how many enquires we get from peoplewho never say please or thank you, but first Ihave to point out a few things. Sadly we do nothave an identifiable photograph of Thomas, but ifyou do we would appreciate a scanned copy for ourrecords. The photograph of James on our web pagecan be copied; sadly you will have to pay forthis, so if you wish please write to the Curatorof the Museum, Mr. Peter Wroe and tell him youhave had the report from myself, and you would nowlike a copy of the picture, in the mean time Iwill inform him that you may make the request forthe photograph.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 is recorded in Volume 2 for Jamesand Volume 3 for Thomas. The information regardingtheir marriage is retained in CJP24/2, 1847-1966,and with regard to their 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 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 £162, 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 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. Superintendent James BOWYER.Born. Circa 1852 Tarvin, Cheshire.Date of Entry. 08 March 1873.Resigned. 11 February 1876.Re-appointed. 18 May 1878.Final Date of Leaving. 01 November 1905How Discharged. To Pension.Initial Posting. HQ Reserve.Other Postings and Dates. April 1873 Altrincham.June 1874 Northwich. May 1879 Broxton. 18 January1884 Altrincham. 01 June 1886 Northwich. 14October 1889 Runcorn. 01 August 1891 Egremont. 01November 1897 S.W. Birkenhead.Miscellaneous Information. Religion Protestant,Height 5' 11", Age 21(on joining), Eyes Blue, HairLight, Complexion Fresh, Build Proportional. 30October 1905 Certificate of Service and Characteron Parchment marked "Exemplary" sent to him. Ageon retirement 51 years 7 months. Total Service 30years 140 days. Died 14 October 1914 aged 60 years7 months. It is presumed that he resigned from thePolice in order to take up the position ofInspector of Nuisances as this is the position heheld at the time of his marriage.Promotion/Misconduct. No Misconduct reportsrecorded. Weekly Pay March 1873 20/-. April 187321/-. September 1873 23/4d. August 1874 24/6d. May1875 25/8d. January 1876 26/10d. June 1878 26/10d.October 1878 25/8d. May 1879 26/10d. August 187928/-. 12 January 1884 Promoted Sgt at 30/4d. 25October 1884 31/6d. 30 September 1885 32/8d. 06August 1888 33/10d. 14 October 1889 PromotedInspector at £90 per annum. 01 October 1890 £100pa. 01 November 1891 £110 pa. 01 November 1893£120 pa. 10 April 1897 £130 pa. 01 November 1897Promoted Superintendent at £170 pa. 01 November1890 £180 pa. 01 November 1901 £200 pa. Dischargedon a Pension of £133.6s.8d per annum. Total timeon pension 8 years 348 days. Total pensionedreceived £1193. 15s. 10d.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. 07 July1880 Service and Good Conduct, 2 Good ConductBadges. 06 August 1888 Service and Good Conduct,Merit Badge and Pay (although not recorded itnormally would be an additional 2d per day).Marriage Record.Officer. James BOWYEROccupation. Inspector of Nuisances.Age.23 years.Condition. Bachelor.Place of residence at Marriage. Warrington.Date of Marriage. 18th May 1876.Place Married. Parish Church, Great Budworth.Fathers Name. Samuel BOWYER.Fathers Occupation. Game Keeper, Cheshire.Spouse. Hannah FOSTER.Occupation. Barmaid.Age. 23 years.Condition. Spinster.Place of residence. Ashton by Budworth.Fathers Name. Thomas FOSTER.Fathers Occupation. Farmer, Cheshire.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Collar Number/Rank. 524 and 323 Sgt. ThomasBOWYER. (It was not uncommon for an officer tojoin with one warrant number and it was altered ata late date).Born. Circa 1857 Tarvin, Cheshire.Date of Entry. 17 December 1881.Date of Leaving. 31 July 1907Final Date of Leaving. 31 July 1907.How Discharged. To Pension.Initial Posting. HQ Reserve.Other Postings and Dates. 07 January 1882Altrincham, 19 May 1883 Eddisbury, 26 March 1886Wirral, 18 September 1886 Macclesfield, 01 May1892 Saughall, 15 May 1894 Little Sutton.Miscellaneous Information. Previous OccupationBricklayer. Religion Protestant, Height 5' 9", Age24, Eyes Grey, Hair Light Brown, Complexion Fresh,Build Proportional. Certificate of Service andCharacter on parchment marked "Exemplary" sent 30January 1907. Age on retirement 49 years 1 month.Total Service 25 years 41 days. Died 27 December1843, aged 86 years.Promotion/Misconduct. No Misconduct reportsrecorded. Pay 17 December 1881 23/11d, 25 June1882 24/6d, 09 June 1883 25/8d, 25 October 188426/10d, 30 September 1885 28/-, 01 May 1892Promoted Acting Sgt, 01 January 1894 31/6d, 15 May1894 Promoted Sgt 33/3d, 01 June 1896 34/5d, 08November 1896 35/7d, 01 June 1898 37/4d. Annualpay on retirement £97. 6s. 8d. Discharged on apension of £60.6s.11d per annum. Approximate timeon pension 36 years. Total approximate pensionreceived £2172. 0s. 0d.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. 02September 1891 Courageous Conduct against a gangof Poachers, Commended by the Chief Constable. 08November 1896 Long and Meritorious Service, MeritBadge and 2d per day additional pay.Marriage Record.Officer. Thomas BOWYER.Occupation. Bricklayer.Age. 22 years.Condition. Bachelor.Place of residence at Marriage. Clotton Hoofield.(Parish of Tarvin)Date of Marriage. 5th August 1881.Place Married. St. Andrews Church, Tarvin.Fathers Name. Samuel BOWYER.Fathers Occupation. Labourer. Cheshire.Spouse. Sarah YOUNG.Occupation. Not stated.Age. 21 years.Condition. Spinster.Place of residence. Clotton Hoofield. (Parish ofTarvin).Fathers Name. Daniel YOUNG.Fathers Occupation. Blacksmith, Cheshire.The Curator, Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 1LQ