X PatronGerald Cavendish GrosvenorDuke of Westminster, KG, CB, OBE, TD, DLYour ref:Our ref:11th November 2012.Henry James COOP (E)Dear Jocelyn,Thank you for your enquiry concerning Henry, sadto say the Museum has no trace of this officer andto explain the reasons why.The Cheshire Constabulary was formed in April1857; there are many thousands of records, theseare held by the Cheshire Record Office, Chester.As a retired Police officer and voluntary PoliceMuseum Researcher. I have extracted the followingrecords which are now computerised and easilysearched under any permutation in the spelling ofthe Surname.Cheshire Police Officer Enrolment Records are heldunder Reference CJP7 Volumes 1-5. These fivevolumes are very large and in poor condition, runfrom 1857- 22 March 1913. The informationregarding an officer's marriage is retained inCJP24/2, 1847-1966. And with regard to any pensionCJP20/2/1, 1857-1965.Further, there are 33 Volumes each containingapproximately 400 pages of General Orders, theseare basically the everyday events of the CheshireConstabulary and date from April 1857 to 1946,they are also normally held at the Record Officein Chester under reference CJP4, however they arepresently held by the Museum. The years 1857 to1884 are complete and again computerised and Iwould have thought Henry would have turned up inone of these records. Here I note that you say inyour e-mail that Henry was 'attached' to theCheshire Constabulary as opposed to 'a member of'if for some reason he was only 'attached' then hisname would not appear in any of the records. Canyou please let me know what information you havethat say's he was 'attached'.The UK around the 1870's is littered with manypolice forces, meaning that not only did thevarious Counties have their own force but many ofthe Borough's within the County also had their ownforce, Cheshire being no exception it having 6Borough police forces.On top of this you have over the years theGovernment Boundary changes when the likes ofLiverpool and parts of Manchester were part ofLancashire and to this end this Museum also hasaccess to the Greater Manchester Police nominalroll of their officers and I have searched thisagain no trace. Further Lancashire police archivesare held by the Public Records Office inLancashire, they have a nominal roll of officerson line and there is a Henry COOP on this roll butit does not state if he had a second forename. Youcan see the information by going tohttp://www.lancashire.gov.uk/education/record_office/records/policesearch.aspYou could also try Merseyside police as it is nowbut back in the 1870's it also had numerous policeforces, they may be contacted via Mrs KateMcNichol who is the Force Records Manager atmake you aware that it may take some time for Kateto reply as she also deals with all currentMerseyside police officers.It is also possible that Henry could have servedas a Railways or Docks police officer but I haveno idea where or if any of these records stillsurvive.Perhaps you may also consider theSOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE (SAPS) MUSEUM ANDARCHIVES I don't have their e-mail but they becontacted viaAddress: Street: 171 Pretorius Street, Pretoria,0002Postal: P.O. Box 4866, Pretoria, 0001Telephone: (012) 353-6773Fax: (012) 353-6775Enquiries to: The CuratorHours of opening: 0800-1530Access: Since the archives are functioning as apart of the SAPS there are restrictions uponsensitive and confidential documents. Informationthat is accessible to the public includes: Recordcards; general documents; photographs andnegatives; other related information viacomputers; magazines, news-papers and otherpublished material (historical and present day).Lastly this Museum has access to 'Find My Past UK'and I have done a search using Henry's year ofbirth as circa 1840. The only thing that turned upwas several marriages but obviously I don't knowif he was married in the UK, if you care to sendme any further information you have on Henry, thelikes of his approximate year and place of birth,if he was married in the UK etc. I will carry outa search for you.I am truly sorry I have been unable to assist youwith Henry's record I would have liked to do so.Best wishesJim Talbot.Trustee and ResearcherMuseum of Policing in Cheshire.Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington. WA1 1LQTel : 01606 36 3848/5803www.museumofpolicingincheshire.org.uk/