X Thomas DALEDear Peter,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Samson 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. Sadly we do not have aphotograph, that is to say we may, there areliterally hundreds of photographs of officers, buttheir names were never recorded on the reverse.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 inVolumes 1 and 2. The information regarding anofficer's marriage is retained in CJP24/21847-1966 sadly his name is not recorded. Withregard to an officers pension CJP20/2/1 1857-1965again he is not recorded, I can only assume thathis wife was given a lump sum gratuity after hissuicide this would normally consist of a fullyear's salary which at that time of his death was£143 for a Superintendent.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., Chester wherethe original records are retained. 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 £81, so please be aware. The Museum charges,for searching the three volumes are on a reducingscale i.e. dependant on the information recorded,the maximum amount payable is £10, whichrepresents good value. Your remittance is £8 andas we are working on a trust basis please forwardpayment via cheque made payable to the 'Museum ofPolicing in Cheshire' to The Curator, Mr. PeterWroe, Museum of Policing in Cheshire, WarringtonPolice Station, Arpley Street, Warrington,Cheshire. WA1. 1LQ.If you also read the history of the CheshireConstabulary "To the Best of Our Skill andKnowledge" which is on the Museum Web Site, 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. Also therestrictions on their private life, an officer wasnot allowed to drink on or off duty even in hisown home. It all comes down to the fact that upuntil the 1960's every Chief Constable of Cheshirewas an ex military officer and they of coursebrought with 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 completed.If you have any further questions please don'thesitate to contact me. Best wishes Jim Talbot.Trustee and Researcher, Cheshire Museum ofPolicing.Collar Number/Rank. Superintendent 56 ThomasDaleBorn. 1832 Wincle, Cheshire. (Wincle was then inthe Parish of Prestbury, and about 5 miles SouthEast of Macclesfield, Cheshire which is the maintown)Date of Entry. 14th March 1857, this date showsthat he was one of the original police officers ofthe newly formed Cheshire Constabulary i.e. April1857.Date of Leaving. 31st January 1878Final Date of Leaving. 31st January 1878How Discharged. Death in service (Suicide bypoisoning)Initial Posting. Hyde. (Within the parish ofStockport, Cheshire)Other Postings and Dates.20th April 1857 Bucklow;31st August 1858 Eddisbury; 9th May 1860 Wirral;30th September 1860 Northwich;4th August 1862 Reserve (HQ);20th August 1862 Stockport;June 1871 Altrincham;September 1874 Macclesfield.Miscellaneous Information. Two years prior servicewith Manchester Police. (It is well worth checkingwith the Greater Manchester Police Museum they mayhold information about his earlier service withthem, they are on the internet). ReligionProtestant, Height 5' 11", Age 25, Eyes Hazel,Hair Dark, Complexion Dark, Build Stout. I havealso checked at the following web sitehttp://www.blacksheepindex.co.uk/POLNOTES.htm#Topin essence this site is owned by a privateindividual who has over the years collected agreat deal of information from newspaper articlesabout police officers. He appears to have anewspaper article appertaining to Thomas's suicidein 1878. This will no doubt save you a great dealof time and energy trying to find the exactnewspaper in which it appeared, but there appearsto be a charge. I must stress that we as a museumhave not used its services and are only aware ofthe sites existence.Promotion. 30th September 1860 Promoted Sgt 3rd class.1st May 1863 Sgt 2nd class.January 1871 Promoted Acting Inspector.June 1871 Promoted Inspector.September 1874 Promoted Superintendent.13th January 1860 Neglect of duty in not reportinga case of Felony to his Superintendent,Reprimanded.Pay. 4th April 1858 19/- to 20/- per week. 1stMarch 1859 20/- to 21/-. 30th September 1860 21/-to 22/-. 16th November 1861 22/- to 23/-. 1st May1863 23/- to 24/-. 1st November 1863 24/- to 25/-.May 1866 26/-. December 1866 27/-. June 186728/-. December 1870 Merit Badge and 2d per day inaddition. June 1871 Promoted Inspector at 30/- perweek. September 1872 32/-. June 1873 35/-. August1873 £100 per annum. September 1874 PromotedSuperintendent at £120 per annum. May 1876 £130per annum. January 1878 £143 per annum.Misconduct.13th January 1860 for neglect of duty in notreporting a case of Felony to his Superintendent,for which he was reprimanded.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. January1861 Capture of Boat Men for several Robberies,10/- reward by Chief Constable. May 1863 Generalefficiency in taking charge of the Division duringthe illness of his Superintendent, Promoted to 1stClass Sgt.