X Robert COLLINGSDear Andrew,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Robert 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. As I said earlier I don'thave much information and to try and explain thereasons 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 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 records areextremely detailed and have been checked forRobert's service, and Robert does not appear asever having served with the Cheshire Constabulary.But do not despair; all is not lost at the moment.Your initial information stated that he wasresident in Congleton in 1908; this would tend tosuggest that he was a member of the CongletonBorough Police, and here I must digress to explainthe difference between County and Borough Forces.As I said Cheshire Constabulary (County PoliceForce) was formed in April 1857, and wasresponsible for policing the County of Cheshire.However, there were certain parts the County thathad their own police forces, these were known asBorough Police Forces and were only responsiblefor the Borough in which they policed. Most of theBorough Police Forces started circa 1833, 1836being the case with Congleton Borough Police, itwould remain as an independent police force until1947, only then did it become part of CheshireCounty Constabulary. When the amalgamation tookplace in 1947, none of the officer's personalrecords were retained; and we presume that theywere destroyed by the local authority atCongleton, it is not for the want, by this Museum,of trying to trace these records, and everywherewe searched was to no avail.I have added below what is recorded in the Historyof the Cheshire Constabulary Book "To the Best ofOur Skill and Knowledge" it may help to give youan insight to Congleton Borough Police.A newspaper report of a meeting of the Council ofthe Borough in February, 1836 (when the newMunicipal Corporations Act was being discussed),proves that until this time Congleton had neverhad a paid policeman; a member referring to acommittee recommendation said, "we are recommendedto appoint an officer such as we have not,hitherto, possessed in the borough; I mean aregular paid officer."In the course of this meeting it seems that thegeneral idea was to appoint one regular constableat a weekly wage of one guinea and two special orpart-time constables, to be employed only whenwanted at three shillings and sixpence a day whenso employed.This particular meeting ended inconclusively butfrom other sources of information it seems clearthat this was to be the pattern for the "force"for a number of years. In fact, even in 1889 thestrength was only one superintendent and fourconstables. For most of these years the strengthwas one plus two regular Saturday night paidSpecial Constables, reinforced on specialoccasions by upwards of six firemen sworn in forparticular occasions, such as the annual fairs and"wakes" weeks.Whilst the natural disinclination of the boroughcouncil to add to the rate burden isunderstandable, it is difficult to reconcile aposition in which the ratio of police topopulation was one to 9,000 for many years.The antipathy of members of the local authority tothe idea of a police force stemmed from a numberof roots; political, financial and social. To allthis was added the violent and intemperateopposition of a Mr. John Wilson, the Town Clerkfor many years (1850-94). This gentleman, aCambridge LL.D. was also for many years Clerk tothe Borough Justices. He domineered over all, notleast the local council and magistrates. He was aregular guest of the local Licensed VictuallersAssociation at their annual banquets at which hewould rave against the police whom he described onone occasion as "Officious and glib swearing andcorroborating officers". He not infrequentlyaccused the police of "oppression and corruption".As early as 1 842 the Mayor spoke of him as having"kept the town in a state of perpetual ferment" byhis incessant attacks on the Mayor and Council. Heeven went so far as to sue the Mayor at the CountyAssizes for neglect of some statutory duty.Under the provisions of the Police Act of 1856 the"force" (a superintendent and four constables)became subject to inspection by H.M. Inspectors ofConstabulary. Year by year until 1890 the Councilwas informed that the force was inefficient forwant of sufficient strength and no grant would beforthcoming. In a letter written to the Council inNovember, 1889, the Secretary of State, afterreferring to the inefficient state of the forcesaid, "it is now the only borough in England andWales having a separate force that does notmaintain its police in a state of efficiency."In 1890, the Watch Committee on the advice of theChief Constable decided to comply with the minimumrequirements of H.M. Inspector and earn the grantin aid. It was decided to double the strength ofthe force and put it (for the first time) inuniform. This actually meant a small saving in thelocal police rate. Wilson thereupon capitulatedsaying, "I have given up my contest against Mr.Jonathan Hall's (the Chief Constable) scheme ofsurrounding himself with a small regiment ofdrilled and uniformed policemen". The force nowconsisted of one Chief Constable, two sergeantsand eight constables.So far as the administration of justice wasconcerned it is clear that both the Town Clerk andthe Watch Committee took a very great part inplacing obstacles in the path of the police intheir task of impartially administering the law.In 1886 the local press referring to thewithdrawal of summonses against four unnamed"respectable" young men for drunkenness ended itscomments with the lines: "The voice is the voiceof Jonathan (Hall) but the hand is the hand ofJohn (Wilson)."The general attitude of the Watch Committee may beclearly seen from an examination of the committeeminutes. In 1899, on the Chief Constable reportinghaving taken out a summons against a licensee andasking approval for legal aid, the Town Clerk saidthat as he was being called as a "witness" for thedefendant he could not, therefore, represent thepolice. A proposal that a solicitor be engaged wasdefeated.At about the same time the Chief Constable wasrequired to inform the chairman and Town Clerk ofall reports against licensees and he was not totake out a summons until three days had elapsed.One can well imagine the canvassing and lobbyingthat would go on during the three day standstillperiod. For a period the Watch Committee attemptedto usurp the authority of the Magistrates indealing with minor offences. The Magistrates, ofcourse, won in the end.The first police station consisted of a room (partof a shop) belonging to the Corporation andadjoining the old Town Hall. The lockups or cellswere in the cellars. Although a New Town Hall wasbuilt in 1866, the police station remained until1870 when the present building was erected.The police station included living accommodationfor the Chief Constable which was later adaptedfor offices and used jointly by the police andCorporation.From 1914 the Special Constabulary formed apermanent and most useful supplementary force.Before this time Special Constables were sworn inand did duty for special occasions and when nolonger required they reverted to a non-policestatus.The earliest record of the employment of SpecialConstables now available speaks of one hundredrespectable inhabitants being sworn in to aid thepolice when, in 1842, some 600 colliers on strikemarched from North Staffordshire to Poynton withthe intention of bringing miners employed thereout on strike. The strikers assaulted the "ChiefConstable" and made "a great noise and tumult" andlater left the town.The Knutsford and Tabley troop of the CheshireYeomanry and a party of the 1st Royal Dragoonsarrived next morning. Later in the same year it isrecorded that "Turnouts" (strikers) to the numberof about 6,000 came to the town from Macclesfield.There were many occasions of excitement during thenineteenth century particularly during elections.The extent to which participants would go is to beseen in the case of the prominent inhabitant who,towards the end of the century, was indicted atAssizes on a charge of bribery and corruption andsentenced to a term of imprisonment at Knutsford.He went around the town on Election Day withsupporters carrying buckets full of half-crownswhich were distributed to the poorer electors andin public houses.On his release from prison the would-be councillorwas met and escorted by a cavalcade of supportersin triumph back to Congleton where, it is said, agreat crowd welcomed him back.Generally speaking, crime and offences were all ofa minor character. Up to 1945, no charge of murderhad been made since 1776. The Chiefs of the Policein Congleton between 1836 and 1947 numberedtwelve, five of whom left on transfer to otherforces. Up to 1876 when Jonathan Hall, thenserving in Macclesfield, was appointed, all hadbeen local men. He served until 1902 when he wassucceeded by Mr. J. H. Watson (from Hyde) who, in1908, left to become Chief Constable of Devonportand later of Bristol. Succeeding Chief Constableswere Henry Ingles, I908-12 (died); Thomas Danby,1912-14 (to Peterborough) ; Thomas Nuttal, 1915-23(died) ; E. N. Christie, 1923-30 (to Bedford); G.S. Lowe, 1930-2 (to Newcastle-under-Lyme, Plymouthand Sheffield); J. A. Kelsall (Acting ChiefConstable) 1932-4; R. W. James, 1934-47The force came to an end as an independent entityon 31st March, 1947, and was incorporated in theNorthwich Division of the Cheshire Constabularythen under the command of Mr. G. H. Durnell.Returning to the Cheshire Constabulary records,when searching these records I came across aRobert Collings, who joined the Wallasey BoroughPolice on its formation in April 1913, I feelcertain that this is your Robert Collings. Up tothis date Wallasey did not have its own policeforce and it was policed by Cheshire CountyConstabulary. I am assuming that Robert was eithera Sergeant when he left Congleton Borough to joinWallasey or promoted Sergeant shortly afterjoining. Again we come to the problem concerningrecords appertaining to Wallasey Borough Policeofficers, the only records that are held are atthe public record office in Chester under thereference CJP13/3, this one volume records thedates that the officer was 'Sworn In' and forRobert it was 4th April 1913. The entire contentsof this volume has been extracted by me and thisis all that is recorded for Robert, you can if youso wish have the information confirmed by theCheshire County Record Archivist, but it would beremiss of me if I did not tell you that they willcharge £27 per search per volume.In conclusion and in light of there being norecords showing Robert's service may I suggestthat you seek out the following two paperbacks?The first is 'Helmets, Handcuffs and Horses, TheStory of the Wallasey Police and Fire Brigade'Part One Wallasey Police ISBN 0-9517762-3-1, and'Helmets, Handcuffs and Hoses, The Story of theWallasey Police and Fire Brigade' Part Two TheWallasey Fire Brigade, ISBN 0-9517762-4-X, whilstthis does contain mostly information about theFire Brigade at the rear of the book is a list ofofficers that served with Wallasey Borough Police.Both are by the author Noel E. Smith and printedcirca 2001. Within part one is a list of officersthat were on the force strength on the 23th April1928, on page 27 it records the name Sergeant 7'Bob' Collings. On page 25 it mentions a shortstory about Sergeant Collins dealing a couplequarrelling in Seacombe, it records the namesCollins, but having checked for the name Collinsin the list of officers I would tend to think thatCollins has been mistakenly printed instead ofCollings. The book is a real insight to WallaseyPolice and has numerous photographs and wellworth, I think £7?Lastly I have attached the following informationthat you may find useful1. 1881 Census for Robert Collings2. 1891 Census for Robert Collings3. 1901 Census for Robert Collings4. 1851 Census for Edwin Collins, born Liverpoolfather of Robert also shows the father of Edwinwhich was Robert, so we now know that your Robertwas named after his Grandfather.5. Edwin Collings birth entry Register for 1843 inLiverpool.6. Robert Collings birth entry for the April, MayJune Quarter 1879 for Birkenhead.7. Photograph Congleton Borough Police Station.Where the reference BSI appears in the CheshireConstabulary Database this applies to a websiteknown as the Black Sheep Index(www.blacksheepindex.co.uk) this is a site thatcarries newspaper articles concerning PoliceOfficers. On occasions the officer's full name isnot given, but we have tried to make a matchagainst what the Museum Records show. There is onearticle dated 1913 appertaining to PC Collings ofCongleton Borough Police, when he is given a'presentation' I am assuming that this was justbefore his departure for Wallasey Borough. Thereare charges involved to obtain these newspapercuttings direct from the owner of the website. Ifyou decide to send for this cutting please mentionthat you have received the information from theCheshire Police Museum, whilst you will not get itany cheaper it just may help to speed up theprocess. It is emphasized that the Museum does notknow the contents of these cuttings and takes noresponsibility for them. The Museum is onlyshowing this as an aid that there is furtherinformation from another source.Can I ask you when you get a moment would you senda quick mail so I can mark of your enquiry ascomplete? If you have any further questions pleasedon't hesitate to contact me. Jim Talbot. Trusteeand Researcher, Cheshire Museum of Policing.