X Henry CLARKEDear DorothyThank you for your enquiry concerning Henry,firstly I have to point out a few things. We donot have a photograph, officers from this periodwere rarely photographed for the purposes ofidentification, further very little is recordedabout Henry and to 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; the informationwhich you seek would therefore be recorded inVolume 1. Volume 1 however, is in the worsepossible condition it having water damage, pagesstuck together etc, therefore someone at thatpoint in time has copied most of Volume 1 acrossto Volume 2, but Henry does not appear in Volume2, and I presume this is because he did not servevery long. Volume 1 in most cases records verylittle personal information appertaining to theofficer. The information regarding an officer'smarriage is retained in CJP24/2, 1847-1966; Henrydoes not appear here which is unusual as it was anoffence to fail to report his marriage. Whilstthere are over ten Clarkes recorded in the forceat this time there is only one Henry, I feelcertain that this is the Henry you are interestedin.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 total bill wouldbe £52, so please be aware.If you also read the history of the CheshireConstabulary "To the Best of Our Skill andKnowledge" under the drop down section marked'History' on the Museum Web Site, I feel certainthat a useful picture can be obtained of life inthe force 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. 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 an exmilitary officer and they of course brought withthem the military codes of practice.Can I ask you when you get a moment would you senda quick mail so I can mark of your enquiry ascompleted? I am truly sorry that there is not moreinformation to give you, but if you have anyfurther questions please don't hesitate to contactme. Jim Talbot. Trustee and Researcher, CheshireMuseum of Policing.Collar Number/Rank. PC Henry Clarke (officers atthis period were few and there collar numbers werenot usually recorded)Born. Unrecorded.Date of Entry. 8th March 1858Date of Leaving. 24th June 1865.How Discharged. Resigned.Initial Posting. HQ. Chester (Reserve)Other Postings and Dates. 13th March 1858 BucklowDivision, (Timperley being within this Division)Miscellaneous Information. None.Promotion/Misconduct. March 1863 Drunk in a BeerHouse at Altrincham, Fined 5/-. 8th December 1863under the influence of liquor and allowing aprisoner to escape, Fined 5/- and cautioned.Pay. 1st October 1858 19/- to 20/- per week. 13thApril 1861 20/- to 21/-.per week.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. None.