X PatronGerald Cavendish GrosvenorDuke of Westminster, KG, CB, OBE, TD, DLYour ref: JT64/2012Robert James LEADear David,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Robert you may be surprisedhow many enquires we get from people who never sayplease or thank you, but first I have to point outa few things. Sadly we do not have a photograph,that is to say we may, there are literallyhundreds of photographs of officers, but theirnames were never recorded on the reverse of thephotograph so from the Museums perspective theyremain unidentifiable. If you have a photographand you would like to share it a scanned copywould be wonderful or for that matter any otherinformation you may have that could be added tohis file.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 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 is recorded in Volume 5.Information regarding his marriage is retained inCJP24/2, 1847-1966. And with regard to his 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. Each Volume ishandwritten and although they can be scanned theycannot be searched to extract the information asthe character recognition software just does notrecognise handwriting. They are being transcribedinto a searchable word document, which is a verylong and slow process, only the years from 1857 to1884 are complete, however I have checked throughfrom Robert's joining date until his retirementand any information between these years willappear within your report.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 bill should youwish to have all the above mentioned Volumessearched would amount to several hundreds ofpounds, so please be aware. The cost of yourreport is £10, and given the above information Ifeel certain that you will agree that thisrepresents value for money.The Museum is within the confines of WarringtonPolice Station which is an operational station andvisits to the Museum are by appointment only,normally on Mondays and Fridays. If you would liketo visit please forward a quick mail a couple ofweeks before I feel certain the Curator Mr. PeterWroe and Staff will do everything possible toaccommodate you.Payment can be made by going to the Museum websitewww.museumofpolicingincheshire.org.uk within thedrop down 'Index' is the section marked 'FamilyResearch' there it will be seen 'Pay-Pal orDebit/Credit Card' click on this and follow theinstructions, when payment is received by theMuseum Pay-Pal will automatically let the Museumknow. If you prefer to pay by cheque please makeit payable to the 'Museum of Policing in Cheshire'and send it to the Curator, Mr. Peter Wroe, Museumof Policing, County Police Office, Arpley Street,Warrington, Cheshire CW1 1LQ, if you pay in thismanner will you kindly let me know.If you also read the history of the CheshireConstabulary by going to the web site, INDEX dropdown menu, HISTORY and look for "To the Best ofOur Skill and Knowledge" 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 rules 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 anex-military officer and they of course broughtwith them 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 complete,this is important as whilst we are not funded bythe Cheshire Constabulary, they are still our'masters' so to speak and I have to account forthe information I send out. If you have anycomments good or bad and you wish to make themplease do so?If you have any further questions please don'thesitate to contact me.Jim TalbotTrustee and Researcher, Cheshire Museum ofPolicing.Collar Number/Rank. Sergeant 38 Robert James LEABorn. 1871 none of the early records give a fulldate of birth however from other sources I confirmthat he was born in the Jan-Feb Quarter of 1871 inthe district of Nantwich. From the parish birthrecords I confirm that he was baptised on the 15thFebruary 1871 at Wynbury, Cheshire.Date of Entry. 2nd July 1898Date of Leaving. 31st October 1925Re-appointed. Not applicable.Final Date of Leaving. 31st October 1925How Discharged. To pensionInitial Posting. HQ Reserve Division, Chester.Other Postings and Dates. 30th July 1898 NewFerry, (Wirral Division). 30th September 1902Crewe, (Nantwich Division). 16th August 1903Church Coppenhall, (Nantwich Division) 1st August1906 Nantwich, (Nantwich Division). 20th June 1908New Brighton, (Wirral Division). 2nd June 1912Altrincham, (Altrincham Division). 29th May 1921Mottram. (Hyde Division).Miscellaneous Information. Previous OccupationPlatelayer. Religion Protestant, Height 5' 9", Age26, Eyes Brown, Hair Black, Complexion Fresh. 27thOctober 1925 Certificate of Service with charactermarked "Exemplary" Age on retirement 53 years 7months, Total service 27 years 122 days.Children shown on 1901 Census Mary Adelaide, borncirca 1895. Annie born circa 1897, Beatrice Mayborn circa 1899. Robert Edward born circa 1900.Children shown on 1911 Census Eric and Percy borncirca 1906 (twins). Post the 1911 Census PhyllisEdith born 1913, Amy Marjorie born 1917.1901 Census address. 1 Price Street, LoweBebbington, New ferry.1911 Census address. 34 Pleasant Street, NewBrighton.Age on retirement. 53 years 7 months.Total service. 27 years 122 days.Died. 7th July 1926, aged 54 years 3 months, deathregistered in the district of Ashton under Lyne,Lancashire. Wife Edith Lillie to receive widow'spension of £50 per annum.The Generations NetworkPromotion. 1st August 1906promoted Acting Sergeant. 2nd June 1912 promotedSergeant.Misconduct. 27th December 1907 not parading forduty at 10am on the 27th December and being at hisStation at 10.30am under the influence of drink.Fined 5/- by Chief Constable and placed at thebottom of the list of Acting Sergeants.Weekly Pay. 2nd July 1898 25/1d, 2nd July 189926/3d, 2nd July 1900 26/10d, 2nd July 1901 28/-,2nd July 1903 29/2d, 2nd July 1905 30/4d, 2nd July1910 31/6d, 1st April 1912 33/3d, 2nd June 1912Sgt 36/2d, 2nd June 1914 36/9d, 1st July 191540/10d, 2nd June 1916 42/-, 2nd June 1918 43/2d,30th September 1918 52/6d, 10th November 191862/-, 1st April 1919 112/6d.Retired on annual pension of. £195.13s.4d.Total time on pension. 273 days.Total pension received. £146.15s.0d.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. 13thDecember 1921, Examined for the rank of Inspector.Examination failed.Marriage Record (See attachment for ParishMarriage entry)Name. Robert James LEA.Occupation. LabourerAge. 24 years.Condition. Bachelor.Place of residence at Marriage. Hatherton,Cheshire.Date of Marriage. 30th December 1895Place Married. St. Mary's Parish Church Acton.Fathers Name. James LEAFathers Occupation. Labourer.Spouse. Edith Lillie PeersOccupation. Not recorded.Age. 23 years.Condition. Spinster.Area of residence. Minshull Vernon, Leighton,Crewe. Cheshire.Fathers Name. Father not recorded in policemarriage register but mother's name is given asEdith PEERS. Parish marriage entry gives father asEdwin Peers, Gardener.Fathers Occupation. Gardener, Cheshire.Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington. WA1 1LQTel : 01606 36 3848/5803www.museumofpolicingincheshire.org.uk/