X James TOPHAMDear Kay,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning James 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.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 April 1857- 22 March 1913. With regard tohis pension CJP20/2/1, page 1 (1857-19640.I say all this because I want to try and reassureyou that what I give you is as it appears in therespective documents. 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 document or volume;therefore your total bill would be £54, so pleasebe aware.You will note that the Constabulary was formed in1857, prior to this the County was very looselypoliced by "Watchmen" or "Parish Constables" theseindividuals usually held other jobs at the sametime. James in particular only ever served as a"Watchman" or "Parish Constable" and is notrecorded in any of the CJP7 Volumes (1-5). Hisname does appear on a single sheet of paperCJP9/9, dated 13 April 1857. This is a "return ofmen not to be retained on the strength of the newforce" i.e. the new Cheshire Constabulary. Hisactual starting date as a Watchman/ParishConstable can only be estimated at circa 1840, butof course he completed his service of 17 years onthe 13 April 1857. He was given a pension of £10.0s. 0d per annum, and remained on pension for 18years 271 days, and over this period received atotal of £187. 8s.5d. He died on the 18th January1876, in the district of Runcorn, Cheshire. I canonly presume that the reference to him being aPolice Officer on the 1861 Census is an error andthey should have recorded him as "RetiredConstable". There are very few records prior to1857, that may have recorded him "killing a man"and to this end the only thing I can say is if hehad done so, there may be a document stating so,but I have not yet come across it, but certainlynow I will keep an eye open for it.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.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. Jim Talbot.Trustee and Researcher, Cheshire Museum ofPolicing.The Curator, Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 1LQ