X Alfred Joseph WOODDear Brian and Christine,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Alfred 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 never recorded on the reverse.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. At the same time as Cheshire Constabularybeing formed there were a number of other PoliceForces within Cheshire these were known as BoroughPolice Forces, i.e. Hyde, Macclesfield,Stalybridge etc. Warrington Borough Police whereAlfred served was in fact within the County ofLancashire. When the local Government boundarieschanged in 1974, Warrington Borough Police becamepart of the Cheshire Constabulary and thankfullytheir records came into the possession of theCheshire Constabulary. Warrington Borough Recordsare held under reference CJP20/12/1 and CJP20/12/2and CJP20/12/4.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 and as Alfred's records arespread over the three volumes you're remittancewould be £81.If you also read the history of the CheshireConstabulary "To the Best of Our Skill andKnowledge" and the History of Warrington BoroughPolice which are both on the Museum Web Site underthe drop down Menu marked History. I feel certainthat a useful picture can be obtained of life inthe all the forces at the time, my own opinion isthat discipline was draconian and those whostrayed outside the rule's were fined way abovewhat they earned or dismissed. Also therestrictions on their private life, an officer wasnot allowed to drink on or off duty even in hisown home..Collar Number/Rank. PC42 Alfred Joseph WOOD.Born. 1868, Wood Walton, Huntingtonshire.Date of Entry. 5th May 1889Date of Leaving. 17th September 1914.Final Date of Leaving. 17th September 1914.How Discharged. Pensioned.Initial Posting. Warrington Borough Police.Miscellaneous Information. Trade or Calling. FarmLabourer, Last employer, J. R. Walker. ManchesterShip Canal, Acton Grange. Height 5' 9", Age onjoining 21 years, Hair, Brown. Eyes Grey,Complexion Fresh, Distinguishing Marks, Nil.Marital Status, Single, Children Nil. Member ofany Party or Society, Nil. Total Service 25 years12 days. Copy of Certificate of Service onCJP20/12/2 marked "Very Good".Please note that there are a few blank OriginalCertificates of Service held within the Museum.Alfred details can be replicated to one of theseCertificates if you so wish. However, sadly therewill be a cost of £10 this money will go towardthe upkeep of the Museum. If you are interestedplease let me known.Misconduct. 10th March 1892 reported by Sgt Smithfor neglect of duty in not working his beatproperly between 10pm and 2am and being 35minutes late at a given point namely Wash Lane.Being asked what caused his delay he said "Nothingonly I was talking to PC Clarke a bit" Afterwardsbeing questioned by Ins Spinks used unbecominglanguage saying "I'll go before I commit myself,as I'll work under a man but not under a'mongrel'. He was told he would be reported.Cautioned and reprimanded by the Watch Committeeconcerning his future conduct.26th March 1897 reported by Sgt Smith for neglectof duty in not working his district, SankeyBridges, he being the resident officer there. PCWood was absent from his beat from 7pm to 10pmFriday 29th March and discovered at his residenceunder the influence of drink. Fined 10/- by theWatch Committee.25th January 1909 reported by Sgt Smith forneglect of duty in failing to work his beat (No 4)between 4pm and 5pm during which time he had beengossiping in Victoria Park, Severely reprimandedby Chief Constable.Commendation. 28th September 1898 Bravery andPromptness in saving five children's lives from aburning house. Awarded £1, by resolution of theWatch Committee. Nothing further is recorded;however it may be worth looking at the WarringtonGuardian Newspaper archives aroundSeptember/October 1898.Weekly Pay. 6th September 1889 25/-, 20th March1890 26/-, 11th September 1890 27/-, 8th October1891 28/-, 25th April 1895 29/-. 7th April 189830/-, 7th September 1899 31/-, 8th March 1906 32/-and one stripe, 28th October 1909 33/- and to twostripes.Annual Pension. Discharged on an annual pensionof £53. 3. 11d.I (Jim Talbot) will take the unusual step here andadd the following comment concerning Alfred'smisconduct reports. Whilst Alfred cannot beentirely blameless, I cannot help but have somesympathy with him. Having the entire WarringtonBorough Police Officers records to hand it is easyfor me to see the whole picture in relation toAlfred being reported three times by the Sgt Smithand why Alfred should refer to him as a 'mongrel'.Sgt Samuel Smith originally joined the CheshireConstabulary in 1878. He resigned in 1882, sayinghe was joining the Liverpool Police. In fact hedid not and joined Warrington Borough Police in1882 and was promoted Sgt in 1894 and againpromoted to Inspector in 1905, he retired topension in 1908. Throughout Sgt Smith's service heappears to have reported the vast majority ofWarrington Borough Officers for the most trivialof matters, he was a severe authoritarian, SgtSmith was obviously hated by his fellow officersfrom the comments made by them when he reportedthem to the Chief Constable. It is clear to mefrom reading Sgt Smith's own misconduct reports,for insubordination and neglect of duty on severaloccasions that Sgt Smith was nothing more than a'bully'.I trust you have enjoyed reading this report and Iask you when you get a moment would you send aquick mail so I can mark of your enquiry ascomplete. Could I also ask if you have time andyou would like to make any comments good or bad weappreciate receiving them? I ask this because weare a fairly new Museum and we must show our worthor lack of it to our Senior Officer's within thePolice. If you have any further questions pleasedon't hesitate to contact me. Best wishes JimTalbot. Trustee and Researcher, Cheshire Museum ofPolicing.