X George Allsop CouplandDear MartinThank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning George you would besurprised how many enquires we get from people whonever say please or thank you, but sadly we haveno trace of George, and try and 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 records are verydetailed and we believe that with a very fewexceptions all officers have been accounted for.These volumes have been checked and I can onlypresume that he was not a member of the CheshireConstabulary but was a member of StalybridgeBorough Police Force.At the same time the Cheshire Constabulary wasrunning and prior to its commencement in 1857,there were a number of other Police Forces, thesewere I am sure you are aware of were known asBorough Police Forces. Cheshire as a County hadseveral, Hyde, Macclesfield, Congleton,Birkenhead, Chester, Wallasey, and Stockport andof course Stalybridge this force commencing circa1833. These Constituent Forces over the next 100years or so eventually became part of the CheshireConstabulary. Sadly what did not come across withthe forces, were all their records and in the caseof Stalybridge the only records to come acrosswere the Stalybridge Record of Officers 1900-1930.Believe me the Museum Staff has tried in vain tolocate further records.Within the history of the Cheshire Constabulary"To the Best of Our Skill and Knowledge" which ison the Museum Web Site, under the drop down menumarked 'History' there is a section onStalybridge. To save you reading it from thecomputer I have attached it below and you canprint it off and read it at your leisure. I feelcertain that a useful picture can be obtained oflife in the force at the time, my own opinion isthat discipline was draconian and those whostrayed outside the rule's were fined way abovewhat they earned or dismissed.You will note that the first paragraph on'Stalybridge' makes reference to a book written bythe former CC of Stalybridge William Chadwick, ifyou are interested this book entitled'Reminiscences of a Chief Constable' really doesgive a fascinating insight to the Police andStalybridge at the time of when George was bornand at the time he would have served. It was lastprinted in 1974. I bought my copy only last yearat a cost of £20, it is more than likely stillavailable via the Internet.I am truly sorry not to have been able to help youin any great detail, but can I ask you when youget a moment would you send a quick mail so I canmark of your enquiry as completed. If you have anyfurther questions please don't hesitate to contactme. Jim Talbot, Trustee and Researcher, CheshireMuseum of Policing.STALYBRIDGE"The people of Stalybridge have immortalizedthemselves in the way of strikes or turnouts", sowrote, in 1899, a competent observer in the personof William Chadwick, a native of the district anda police officer for nearly fifty years, of which,for thirty-seven years, he was Chief Constable ofStalybridge. His Reminiscences, published aboutthe end of the nineteenth century gives a graphicpicture of life in Stalybridge as he saw it atclose quarters.Police history peculiar to Stalybridge began withan Act of 1828 authorizing the election of a bodyof local Commissioners to administer a ratherelementary form of local government, including theappointment of paid police officers. No"establishment" of police officers was fixed. Itbegan with about two officers and ended, in 1857,with about ten.The first evidence of the number employed is to befound in a tattered "log" book of 1830. In this,largely devoted to records concerning the dutiesof a body of some thirty Special Constables duringwhat was known as the "four and two pence - orswing" strike or lock-out, reference is made to:"our two constables" Hellawell and Wood, "thenoble guardians of the public peace", who had beenfound drinking and in a tipsy state at half pastone o'clock in the morning at a local hostelry.In 1844, the "officers" probably numbered aboutfour or five. By 1857, when the Commissioners werereplaced by the first Borough Council and WatchCommittee (Borough Charter, June, 1857), the old"force" probably numbered about ten men. Aninventory of accoutrements handed over to the newWatch Committee seems to indicate sufficient toequip ten men (some of whom may have beenWatchmen).There were, of course, no ranks, although the term"deputy" or "superintendent constable" would seemto have been used frequently to indicate thesenior member of the force.One such was a John Gatley. He had been appointedby the Hyde Vestry as a paid police officer in1835 "to do all the constabulary business of thetownship for his annual salary of £50".He probably left Hyde about 1840 and became a sortof head constable in Stalybridge. In 1844 hisofficial conduct became the subject of an inquiryby the local Commissioners and he lost his job.The Gatley inquiry was fully reported in a seriesof scurrilous pamphlets published under the title"The Looking Glass" by a local printer. Theprincipal allegation against Gatley concerned hisuse of an agent provocateur named James Swann (amember of a notorious local criminal family), as aresult of which four local men were charged withburglary and sentenced to fifteen yearstransportation each.The newly created Watch Committee took over policeresponsibilities in August, 1857, when the firstChief Constable, Joseph Sadler, was appointed andthe Commissioner held property was taken over.Some members of the old police body joined the newforce which for the first time was probablyattired in the usual uniform of the period,top-hat, blue knee-length frock coat with stand-upcollar, and blue trousers. Helmets were adopted in1863. Amongst the accoutrements inherited from theCommissioners were rattles or "ricks" (shortly tobe discarded for whistles) and six cutlasses. InApril, 1863, twenty-four more cutlasses and beltswere purchased at a cost of £26. 15s. 0d.The establishment and pay was fixed as follows:one Chief Constable at £120 per annum; twoinspectors, one at twenty-four shillings andsixpence per week, with free quarters, the otherat twenty-four shillings per week; eightconstables at eighteen shillings per week. Thefirst inspectors were Wright Broadbent, (acolleague of John Gatley in 1844) and WilliamDyson, with responsibilities for "day police" and"night police" respectively. Each constable wasrequired to deposit the sum of £1 10s. 0d. withthe Committee in earnest of proper performance ofduty.Joseph Sadler resigned in 1862. It was thisgentleman who, as superintendent of the Stockportpolice in 1851, when giving evidence before aSelect Committee of the House of Commons hadstated that the "Constabulary and others engagedin the administration of public justice, haveconstantly been guilty of the most grave andserious offences", one of which is "the fearfuliniquity of being instrumental in obtaining thecommittal of innocent persons for the merepleasure and profit of attending the sessions andassizes". A meeting of the Cheshire CountyMagistrates called upon Mr. Sadler to prove hiswords. He, however, declined; on the grounds thatthe Court of Quarter Sessions was not a propertribunal to investigate his charges and also thatwhat he had said to the Select Committee was underprivilege. If the records of the Gatley case of1844 are true, Sadler certainly had some substancefor his accusations.William Chadwick, then an inspector in theAshton-u-Lyne Borough Force and earlier a PettyConstable in the Dukinfield district under JosephLittle, was appointed to succeed Sadler. He was toserve Stalybridge for thirty-seven years at theend of which, in his retirement in 1899 (when hemade the dubious claim to be the "oldest BoroughChief Constable in England") he published hisReminiscences.The following years, as their forerunners hadbeen, were years of constant alarms on account ofthe frequent outbreaks of public disorder. Tobegin with nothing less than military aid wassufficient to restore order and tranquillity. Intime, however, the place of the military came tobe taken by bodies of civil police imported as andwhen required from other districts.For the first time the year 1863 saw contingentsof police from Lancashire and Cheshire broughtinto the borough to help maintain law and orderduring what were known as the "Bread Riots". TheChief Constable subsequently reported that of 36opersons apprehended during the year, eighty-threewere charged with rioting. The nationalities ofpersons charged were given as - English 146; Irish212; Welsh 1 and Scots 1 Cavalry and Infantry werepresent in the town on this occasion and alsoduring the "Murphy" Riots of 1868, but theirpresence became less and less necessary as theyears went on.With the progressive extension of the right tovote, elections, both parliamentary and local,came in time to be occasions for disorder, inanticipation of which the Mayor was usually givenauthority to negotiate with the Chief Constable ofCheshire, Derbyshire or Lancashire for policereinforcements. Fortunately for those responsiblefor keeping order the custom of fixing the pollson different days over a period of time enabledpolice contingents to be used to the bestadvantage.The new force took some time to settle down andbecome "efficient". It was some years before theWatch Committee could be persuaded to agree to an"establishment" sufficient to satisfy H.M.Inspector of Constabulary and to inauguratesuperannuation fund, both of which, in the opinionof the Home Secretary, were necessary to anefficient force.By April, 1863, the force had grown to a total ofthirteen. It was now increased by a further tenmen. By June, 1863, the strength had been furtherincreased to twenty-five by the appointment (forthe first time) of two sergeants. In September ofthe same year the Watch Committee recommended theestablishment of a superannuation fund. This led,in October, to the Inspector of Constabularyexpressing his satisfaction at the efficiency ofthe force.In addition to normal police duty the ChiefConstable was in charge of the local fire brigadeand one sergeant and eight constables didpart-time fire duties.The turn-over of constables for many years wasextremely rapid. In 1867 at one meeting of theWatch Committee, six men (25 per cent of theforce) were found guilty of drunkenness on duty.In 1894, on the suggestion of the then Inspectorof Constabulary, a number of men were trained inhorsemanship for possible use as mounted police.The horses were to be hired as and when required.The only evidence of them having been put to anyuse would seem to be when in 1898, on thesuggestion of H.M. Inspector (Sir Herbert Croft);a number of them met him on his arrival at therailway station and escorted him to the Town Hall,"as had been done in Ashton and other Boroughs".By the end of the century the total establishmentof the force had increased to thirty-two, and(1898) Chadwick had been succeeded by Captain JohnBates. Captain Bates returned to military duty,during both the South African and First WorldWars.In 1898 the rank of detective officer appears forthe first time. He was to be issued with one plaincoat, two trousers, one vest and one: bat. Therank of detective sergeant followed in 1899. In1895 a telephone was installed at the policestation to be available for all corporationdepartments. A note about this time records that"the surveyor, who has to be fetched to takecalls, uses it more than the police." In 1903 thefirst police "mechanical" form of transport wasobtained - a bicycle.Captain Bates retired in 1924 and was succeeded asChief Constable by "Captain" Roland Y. Parker,whose police experience was twelve months serviceas a constable in the Salford City Force. Heresigned in 1927 and was followed by Frank J. May,who came with thirteen years service in theTynemouth Force. He left in 1929 to become asuperintendent in the Sheffield Force and laterwent on to become Chief Constable of Swansea, andafter service as a Fire Force (N.F.S.) Commanderduring the war became Chief of the Air MinistryConstabulary.Mr. May was followed by Mr. Stanley Pickering, whohad previous service in Sunderland. He was thelast Chief Constable of Stalybridge and retired in1947 after two years war service overseas with theArmy Civil Affairs Commission. Mr. Pickering hadthe distinction of being made an Officer Brotherof the Order of St. John of Jerusalem during hisservice and was awarded the King's Police Medal in1946.During Mr. Pickering's absence, the force, nowcomprising a regular establishment of thirty-five(plus war auxiliaries) was in charge of InspectorRobert Cooke. The Force ceased to exist as anindependent body on 31st March 1947, when it wasabsorbed into the North-East Cheshire Division ofthe Cheshire Constabulary.