X William BRISCALLDear Janet, (if I may be so bold)Thank you for your enquiry concerning Williamsadly we have not been able to trace him; thereare several reasons for this and to try andexplain 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, they are verydetailed and we believe they give a completepicture as to every officer that served withinCheshire Constabulary. We also have a list dated3rd April 1857 (CJP9/9) which is a return ofofficers that were not retained when the newCheshire Constabulary was formed it detailsofficers going back to 1840. There is also anofficers Marriage Register (CJP24/2) this runsbetween 1847 and 1960. This more or less confirmsthat William was not a member of the CheshireConstabulary.I have also checked the 1841 and 1851 Census andhe is resident in 1851 at Bunkers HillMacclesfield as a Police Constable. The 1841Census has him resident in Monks Coppenhall(Crewe) as a Brick-maker. Post these dates I havebeen unable to trace him. If by some chance you donot have these Census returns please let me knownand I will send them to you free of charge.Prior to the inception of Cheshire Constabularythe County was loosely policed by Parish/BoroughConstables. The County had a number of BoroughPolice Forces Hyde, Congleton, Stalybridge andMacclesfield, Macclesfield being formed in 1833 itremained as an independent police force until 1947and only then did it become part of the CheshireConstabulary. Basically Borough Police officer'swere only responsible for the Borough and had nopowers outside the Borough boundaries. It is morethan likely that William was in fact aMacclesfield Borough Police Officer. Sadly likemost other Borough forces when they became part ofthe Cheshire Constabulary their records did notcome with them and it is not for the want oftrying by the Museum to locate them. The onlyrecords that we are aware of are those listedbelow, these are held at the Chester Record Officethe only one that may contain something is theWatch Committee Minutes dated 1848 - 1949, theWatch Committee were basically the overseers ofthe police, much like today's Police Authority.Macclesfield Borough PoliceOffenders under the Macclesfield Improvement Actcirca 1852 CJP20/9/1Police Regulations 1891 CJP20/9/2Declarations by Constables as to previous service1891 - 1945 CJP27/3/1Watch Committee Minutes 1848 - 1949 LBM2703/44Police Pay Books 1911 - 1947 LBM2515/68 Miscellaneous 1890 - 1947 LBM2703/95, 99, 100Macclesfield Division Disciplinary Report Book1921 - 1964 CJP27/7/1 (1 Volume)I should perhaps point out here that dependant onwhere you reside you could search this document atChester, but if you cannot visit please be awarethat the Record Office via their postal researchwill make a charge in excess of £20 to search thisone volume and it is possible that it may notcontain anything that may be of interest.Both the history of the Cheshire Constabulary "Tothe Best of Our Skill and Knowledge" which hasnumerous references to Macclesfield and a shortHistory of Macclesfield Borough Police are on theMuseum Web Site under the drop down menu marked'History', I feel certain that a useful picturecan be obtained of life in the force at the time.I have attached the Macclesfield History becauseit cannot be printed from the web site and you canperuse this at your leisure, the Cheshire historyis far too large a file to send.I am truly sorry that the Museum has been unablefurnish you with the information on William, Iwill however add his name to our database, all beit only with the minimal information, if by somechance you obtain any information as to hisservice I would be very grateful if you would sendit to me so I may add it to his entry.Lastly there is a wonderful website that concernsold photographs of Macclesfield, it may be ofinterest to you, and it does mention Bunkers Hillhttp://www.thornber.net/cheshire/htmlfiles/macclesfield1.html If you have any further questions please don'thesitate to contact me. Could I ask when you get amoment to please acknowledge receipt and I canmark of your enquiry as having been completed?Sincere best wishes, Jim Talbot. Trustee andResearcher, Cheshire Museum of Policing.