X James WILSON.Dear Richard (if I may be so bold)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. Sadly I have notrace of James in any of the records and to tryand explain why.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, but they areextremely detailed as with regard to what theofficer did, i.e. promotion, misconduct, postingsetc., we also believe that the records account forevery officer that served within Cheshire duringthis period. This makes it almost certain thatJames was not a Cheshire police officer, but anofficer of the Congleton Borough Police.Congleton Borough Police force was formed circa1836, it remained as an independent force until1947, only then did it become part of the CheshireConstabulary. Sadly on its amalgamation none ofthe police officer enrolment records came withthem and I assure you that it is not for the wantof trying, by Museum locate them. We are assuminglike other Borough Forces that came into Cheshirein 1947/49, the records were wantonly disposed of.On the off chance that James may have served inCheshire, as it was often the case that Boroughpolice officers first served with the County Forceand vice versa. Apart from the above records thathave been checked, I have also checked Pension andMarriage Registers; we also have a list ofofficers that served as constables prior to 1857who were not retained when the new force wasstarted.If you read the history of the CheshireConstabulary "To the Best of Our Skill andKnowledge" which is on the Museum Web Site, pleasego to the drop down menu marked 'History' andclick on that title within this history is a smallamount on Congleton Borough, however because youcannot print it off I have added it below toread at your convenience. I feel certain that auseful picture can be obtained of life in theforce at the time, my own opinion is thatdiscipline was draconian and those who strayedoutside the rule's were fined way above what theyearned or dismissed.I am truly sorry I have been unable to traceJames, but if you think I can assist furtherplease do not hesitate to contact me. Sincere bestwishes Jim Talbot. Trustee and Researcher Museumof Policing in Cheshire.CONGLETON BOROUGHA newspaper report of a meeting of the Council ofthe Borough in February, 1836 (when the newMunicipal Corporations Act was being discussed),proves that until this time Congleton had neverhad a paid policeman; a member referring to acommittee recommendation said, "we are recommendedto appoint an officer such as we have not,hitherto, possessed in the borough; I mean aregular paid officer."In the course of this meeting it seems that thegeneral idea was to appoint one regular constableat a weekly wage of one guinea and two special orpart-time constables, to be employed only whenwanted at three shillings and sixpence a day whenso employed.This particular meeting ended inconclusively butfrom other sources of information it seems clearthat this was to be the pattern for the "force"for a number of years. In fact, even in 1889 thestrength was only one superintendent and fourconstables. For most of these years the strengthwas one plus two regular Saturday night paidSpecial Constables, reinforced on specialoccasions by upwards of six firemen sworn in forparticular occasions, such as the annual fairs and"wakes" weeks.Whilst the natural disinclination of the boroughcouncil to add to the rate burden isunderstandable, it is difficult to reconcile aposition in which the ratio of police topopulation was one to 9,000 for many years.The antipathy of members of the local authority tothe idea of a police force stemmed from a numberof roots; political, financial and social. To allthis was added the violent and intemperateopposition of a Mr. John Wilson, the Town Clerkfor many years (1850-94). This gentleman, aCambridge LL.D. was also for many years Clerk tothe Borough Justices. He domineered over all, notleast the local council and magistrates. He was aregular guest of the local Licensed VictuallersAssociation at their annual banquets at which hewould rave against the police whom he described onone occasion as "Officious and glib swearing andcorroborating officers". He not infrequentlyaccused the police of "oppression and corruption".As early as 1842 the Mayor spoke of him as having"kept the town in a state of perpetual ferment" byhis incessant attacks on the Mayor and Council. Heeven went so far as to sue the Mayor at the CountyAssizes for neglect of some statutory duty.Under the provisions of the Police Act of 1856 the"force" (a Superintendent and four constables)became subject to inspection by H.M. Inspectors ofConstabulary. Year by year until 1890 the Councilwas informed that the force was inefficient forwant of sufficient strength and no grant would beforthcoming. In a letter written to the Council inNovember, 1889, the Secretary of State, afterreferring to the inefficient state of the forcesaid, "it is now the only borough in England andWales having a separate force that does notmaintain its police in a state of efficiency."In 1890, the Watch Committee on the advice of theChief Constable decided to comply with the minimumrequirements of H.M. Inspector and earn the grantin aid. It was decided to double the strength ofthe force and put it (for the first time) inuniform. This actually meant a small saving in thelocal police rate. Wilson thereupon capitulatedsaying, "I have given up my contest against Mr.Jonathan Hall's (the Chief Constable) scheme ofsurrounding himself with a small regiment ofdrilled and uniformed policemen". The force nowconsisted of one Chief Constable, two sergeantsand eight constables.So far as the administration of justice wasconcerned it is clear that both the Town Clerk andthe Watch Committee took a very great part inplacing obstacles in the path of the police intheir task of impartially administering the law.In 1886 the local press referring to thewithdrawal of summonses against four unnamed"respectable" young men for drunkenness ended itscomments with the lines: "The voice is the voiceof Jonathan (Hall) but the hand is the hand ofJohn (Wilson)."The general attitude of the Watch Committee may beclearly seen from an examination of the committeeminutes. In 1899, on the Chief Constable reportinghaving taken out a summons against a licensee andasking approval for legal aid, the Town Clerk saidthat as he was being called as a "witness" for thedefendant he could not, therefore, represent thepolice. A proposal that a solicitor be engaged wasdefeated.At about the same time the Chief Constable wasrequired to inform the chairman and Town Clerk ofall reports against licensees and he was not totake out a summons until three days had elapsed.One can well imagine the canvassing and lobbyingthat would go on during the three day standstillperiod. For a period the Watch Committee attemptedto usurp the authority of the Magistrates indealing with minor offences. The Magistrates, ofcourse, won in the end.The first police station consisted of a room (partof a shop) belonging to the Corporation andadjoining the old Town Hall. The lockups or cellswere in the cellars. Although a New Town Hall wasbuilt in 1866, the police station remained until1870 when the present building was erected.The police station included living accommodationfor the Chief Constable which was later adaptedfor offices and used jointly by the police andCorporation.From 1914 the Special Constabulary formed apermanent and most useful supplementary force.Before this time Special Constables were sworn inand did duty for special occasions and when nolonger required they reverted to a non-policestatus.The earliest record of the employment of SpecialConstables now available speaks of one hundredrespectable inhabitants being sworn in to aid thepolice when, in 1842, some 600 colliers on strikemarched from North Staffordshire to Poynton withthe intention of bringing miners employed thereout on strike. The strikers assaulted the "ChiefConstable" and made "a great noise and tumult" andlater left the town.The Knutsford and Tabley troop of the CheshireYeomanry and a party of the 1st Royal Dragoonsarrived next morning. Later in the same year it isrecorded that "Turnouts" (strikers) to the numberof about 6,000 came to the town from Macclesfield.There were many occasions of excitement during thenineteenth century particularly during elections.The extent to which participants would go is to beseen in the case of the prominent inhabitant who,towards the end of the century, was indicted atAssizes on a charge of bribery and corruption andsentenced to a term of imprisonment at Knutsford.He went around the town on Election Day withsupporters carrying buckets full of half-crownswhich were distributed to the poorer electors andin public houses.On his release from prison the would-be councillorwas met and escorted by a cavalcade of supportersin triumph back to Congleton where, it is said, agreat crowd welcomed him back.Generally speaking, crime and offences were all ofa minor character. Up to 1945, no charge of murderhad been made since 1776. The Chiefs of the Policein Congleton between 1836 and 1947 numberedtwelve, five of whom left on transfer to otherforces. Up to 1876 when Jonathan Hall, thenserving in Macclesfield, was appointed, all hadbeen local men. He served until 1902 when he wassucceeded by Mr. J. H. Watson (from Hyde) who, in1908, left to become Chief Constable of Devonportand later of Bristol. Succeeding Chief Constableswere Henry Ingles, I908-12 (died); Thomas Danby,1912-14 (to Peterborough) ; Thomas Nuttal, 1915-23(died) ; E. N. Christie, 1923-30 (to Bedford); G.S. Lowe, 1930-2 (to Newcastle-under-Lyme, Plymouthand Sheffield); J. A. Kelsall (Acting ChiefConstable) 1932-4; R. W. James, 1934-47The force came to an end as an independent entityon 31st March, 1947, and was incorporated in theNorthwich Division of the Cheshire Constabularythen under the command of Mr. G. H. Durnell.