X Samson BOWYERDear JoanneThank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Samson 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 recorded on the reverse. Withregard to the Jones officers, I have no trace ofeither, but the one serving in Gorton may well berecorded with the Greater Manchester Police, whoalso have a Museum of Policing.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 inVolume 4. 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; therefore your total bill wouldbe £81, 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.I have also attached a photograph from my owncollection of Winsford Police Station, (takencirca 1901) and where Samson would have walkedthrough the door to patrol Winsford/Over in 1906just prior to his appointment as Sgt. Althoughsomewhat extended and altered, and sadly no longera Police Station, Winsford is also the place whereI reside and where I first walked through thosesame doors to commence patrol, probably walkingsimilar beats in 1975. Winsford a Salt Town hassome very good local history books, and wascertainly then a very tough place to work as aPolice Officer.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 rule's 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. Sgt 404 Samson BOWYER.Born. 1876 Oswestry, Salop.Date of Entry. 11 July 1896.Date of Leaving. 29 May 1924.Final Date of Leaving. 29 May 1924.How Discharged. To Pension.Initial Posting. HQ Reserve.Other Postings and Dates. 05 August 1896 Sale, 06June 1898 Heatley, 28 April 1900 Middlewich, 16November 1901 Winsford, 15 May 1905 Delemere, 31August 1905 Over, 01 April 1906 Over, 01 November1906 Hartford, 24 March 1907 Seacombe, 01 July1911 Holmes Chapel, 01 October 1919 Runcorn.Miscellaneous Information. Previous OccupationSalt Boiler. Religion Protestant, Height 5' 11",Age 20, Eyes Grey, Hair Sandy, Complexion Fresh,Build Proportional. Testimonials and Character"Exemplary" sent to 27 March 1924. Total service27 years 263 days. Died 1931.Promotion/Misconduct. No Misconduct reportsrecorded.Weekly Pay 11 July 1896 25/1d, 01 August 189726/3d, 01 August 1898 26/10d, 01 August 1899 28/-,01 August 1901 29/2d, 01 August 1903 30/4d, 25March 1907 Acting Sgt 01 August 1908 Sgt at 33/3d,01 April 1912 36/2d, 01 July 1913 36/9d, 01 July1915 42/-, 13 August 1916 43/2d, 01 July 191744/4d, 30 September 1918 53/8d, 10 November 191863/2d, 01 April 1919 112/6d. Annual pay onretirement £293. 10s. 1d. Discharged on a pensionof £195.13.4d per annum.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. 13 August1916 Long Service and Good Conduct, Merit Badgeand 2d per day additional pay.Marriage Record (1).Officer. Samson BOWYER.Occupation. Engine Driver.Age. 21 years.Condition. Bachelor.Place of residence at Marriage. Wimboldsley,Cheshire.Date of Marriage. 26 February 1894.Place Married. Wesleyan Chapel, Middlewich.Fathers Name. John BOWYER.Fathers Occupation. Sawyer, Cheshire.Spouse. Hannah BUCKLEY.Occupation. Domestic Servant.Age. 22 years.Condition. Spinster.Place of residence. Wimboldsley, Cheshire.Fathers Name. James BUCKLEY (Deceased).Fathers Occupation. Salt Boiler, Cheshire.Marriage Record (2).Officer. Samson BOWYEROccupation. Police ConstableAge. 31 years.Condition. Widower.Place of residence at Marriage. Hartford,Cheshire.Date of Marriage. 08 November 1906Place Married. Parish Church Over. (The actualname is St. Johns Church).Fathers Name. John BOWYER.Fathers Occupation. Sawyer.Spouse. Mary McCANN.Occupation. Nil.Age. 35 years.Condition. Widow.Place of residence. Over, Winsford.Fathers Name. Patrick McCANN.Fathers Occupation. Farmer (Location not recorded)The Curator, Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 1LQ