X Thomas GOSLINGDear Ann,Thank you for your nicely worded request forinformation concerning Thomas 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 ofthe photograph so for the Museums point theyremain unidentifiable.Before continuing with Thomas, can I justreiterate about William and Stalybridge BoroughPolice, as I said Tameside Archives and GreaterManchester Police Museum may have something, bothare contactable via the internet. Further there isa book "Reminiscences of a Chief Constable" byWilliam Chadwick (Chief Constable Stalybridge1862-1899). Printed in 1901 and reprinted in 1974,by the Longdendale Amenity Society this book is ahistory of Policing in Stalybridge, Mottram etc,and is one of the best police history books I havecome across and it is well worth trying to gethold of it, it really does gives a good insight.It was for sale on the internet in 2008 and I paid£13 for it, but I suppose your local library willbe able to order it for you. Right down to what wehave on Thomas.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 would therefore be recorded inVolumes 1 and 2. The information regarding hismarriage is retained in CJP24/2, 1847-1966. Andwith regard to his pension CJP20/2/1, 1857-1965. Ihave also researched Cheshire Constabulary GeneralOrders for the years 1857-1881 (CJP4/ Volumes1-3), as these are the only records that have beentranscribed to date so far, post this they arestill in their original handwritten form andtherefore not searchable.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 £162, so please be aware. The Museum charges,for searching the six volumes are on a reducingscale i.e. dependant on the information recorded,the maximum amount payable is £10, whichrepresents good value. Your remittance is £10 andas we are working on a trust basis please forwardpayment by cheque made payable to "The Museum ofPolicing in Cheshire" and send it to The Curator,Mr. Peter Wroe, Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police 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, underthe drop down menu marked 'History' 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 from the verybeginning up until the 1960's every ChiefConstable of Cheshire was an ex military officerand they of course brought with them the militarycodes of practice. As a point of interest part ofThomas's service (1877-1881) was served underChief Constable John William Arrowsmith, who iswell documented in the force history, what thatdoes not show is in my opinion, having all theinformation in front of me in General Orders, wasthe austere discipline that this Chief Constabledished out and service under him must have beennothing short of misery. I can only describe himas an autocratic bully.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? Ifyou have any further questions please don'thesitate to contact me.Jim Talbot. Volunteer Trustee and Researcher,Cheshire Museum of Policing.Collar Number/Rank. Sergeant 72 and 271 ThomasGosling (His Collar number would have changed from72 to 271 on promotion to Sergeant)Born. Circa 1835 Stayley, Mottram in Longdendale,Cheshire.Date of Entry. 23rd February 1857Date of Leaving. 29th May 1859 Resigned.Re-appointed. 19th September 1859.Final Date of Leaving. 30th April 1891How Discharged. To pension.Initial Posting. Hyde Number 7 Division (whichcovered the areas of Broadbottom, Dukinfield, GeeCross, Hollingworth, Mill Brook, Stalybridge,Mottram, Newton, Roe Cross and Tintwistle).Other Postings and Dates. 20th April 1857 Hyde,19th September 1859 HQ Reserve Chester, 23rdSeptember 1859 Broxton; June 1870 Nantwich; May1871 Northwich; January 1879 Hyde; 23rd November1880 Wirral; 13th October 1888 Eddisbury; 25thAugust 1889 Hyde.Miscellaneous Information. Religion Protestant.Height 5' 9", Age 22, Eyes Dark, Hair Black,Complexion Pale, Build Proportional. 1st April1891 Certificate of Service with character markedas "Very Good" sent to him.Age on retirement 56 years 1 month.Total service 34 years 30 days.Died 5 July 1893 aged 58 years 3 months.Promotion. June 1870 Promoted Acting Sergeant. May1871 Promoted Sergeant.Misconduct. 8th December 1864 Drinking when onduty in a Public House at Malpas, Reprimanded byChief Constable.27th January 1879 habitually neglecting to visitthe men of his Section, Deprived of Merit Badgeand Pay (2d per day) and transferred to HydeDivision.10th November 1880 endeavouring to bring outsideinfluence to prevent the Chief Constables Ordersbeing carried out, Reduced to 30/4d per week.With regard to the offence on the 27th January1879 the following is recorded in General Orders."Sergeant Thomas Gosling, E Division, having beenreported by his Superintendent for grossdereliction of duty in habitually neglecting tovisit one of the Constables of his Section nightlyduring his tour of duty in accordance with therules of the service, which prescribes that so faras practicable each Constable is to be visited atleast once by day and once by night. On examiningSergeant Gosling's Duty Book it appears that theonly night visits made by him to the Constablereferred to during the last five months were asfollows, August 14th, September 12th, October15th, November 18th, and December 25th out ofwhich number only 18 visits were made aftermidnight and the Chief Constable is compelled tomark his displeasure at such a gross irregularityin the performance of a most important duty andhereby deprives Sergeant Gosling of his MeritBadge and Pay from this date, and trusts this mayserve as a warning to all ranks in theConstabulary against a repetition of so serious abreach of duty, as it must be in the recollectionof the older members of the force, the fatalresult of a Constable not being visited in thesame Division in the year 1873".(The latter part of the entry is referring to theMurder of Constable James Green, of the CheshireConstabulary.With regard to the offence recorded on the10thNovember 1880 the following is recorded in GeneralOrders"The Chief Constable has been much surprised tofind that Sergeant Gosling of A Division, on beingordered to remove to Mottram, had notwithstandingthe Chief Constable's stringent General Orders ofthe 19th October 1878, resorted to a practicewhich he has been trying to suppress, i.e. thedivulging of General Orders to the Public, andendeavouring to bring outside influence to preventhis Orders being carried out, and were it not forSergeant Gosling's previous service and conduct,he would have undoubtedly been dismissed from theForce; as it is the Chief Constable cannot passover this breach of discipline and is thereforecompelled to make his sense of it by reducingSergeant Gosling to 30/4d per week, and warns himthat should a repetition of this infringement ofGeneral Orders on his part take place, dismissalwill certainly follow, Sergeant Gosling will beheld in readiness to move from Mottram at an earlydate which will be notified in a future GeneralOrder. Superintendents will read this, and theGeneral Order of the 19th October 1878 at the nextparade of their Divisions, and will stronglyimpress upon all ranks the prudence of complyingwith all orders issued by the Chief Constable,otherwise when too late it may prove a source ofdeep regret to them and their families".Weekly Pay. 15th July 1858 19/- to 20/-. 26thMarch 1860 19/- to 20/-. 15th September 1865 20/-to 21/-. June 1867 22/-. March 1870 23/4d. January1871 Merit Badge 2d per day in addition. May 1871Sgt at 25/2d. October 1871 26/2d. August 187227/5d. December 1872 29/2d. May 1874 30/4d. May1875 31/6d. January 1876 32/8d. April 1876 33/10d.27th January 1881 reinstated to 32/8d per week.1st February 1886 33/10d.Annual pay on retirement. £88. 4s. 2d.Discharged on Pension of. £58.16s.1d per annum.Total time on pension. 2 years 66 days.Total pension received. £128. 4s. 0d.Awards/Good Conduct/Other information. January1859, apprehending a Burglar, Reward of 10/- byChief Constable. January 1863 apprehending a NavalDeserter, 20/- reward by the Commanding OfficerH.M.S. "Majestic". October 1865 cash reward of 5/-paid under Poachers Act, by F. Aldersey Esq.Marriage RecordOfficer. Thomas GOSLINGOccupation. Sergeant of police.Age. 39 years.Condition. Widower.Place of residence at Marriage. Astbury Cheshire.Date of Marriage. 23rd September 1875Place Married. St. Oswald's Church, Chester.Fathers Name. John GOSLING.Fathers Occupation. Labourer.Spouse. Margaret BROSTEROccupation. Servant.Age. 34 years.Condition. Spinster.Place of residence. Lea Newbold, Cheshire. (NearChester)Fathers Name. Joseph BROSTERFathers Occupation. Labourer.Thomas GoslingDear Ann,Further to my report dated 24th February 2010, Ihave to apologise for I failed to notice and giveyou some additional information from an enquiry Ireceived in April 2008.On the 24th April 2008 I received an enquiry fromMrs. Margaret Broston Hall, of Ashton under Lyne,you enquired about Thomas Gosling, stating thatshe was his granddaughter. Naturally theinformation was sent to her, but at the time ofwriting her report not all the information I gaveto you was available, I now intend to send her afurther mail updating her original report. I willalso include the fact that I have received yourenquiry and will forward your email to her in thisyou may be able to share information. I trust thiswill be in order?You will also recall in your report I stated thatGeneral Orders had only been completed up to 1881,since then I have been able to transcribe a littlemore. On the 4th December 1882 the following isrecordedPaoching Affray at Bostock, 25th November 1882."The Chief Constable has great satisfaction innotifying to the Force the good behaviour of theConstables lately engaged in the Poaching Affrayat Bostock, Near Middlewich, more especially thebravery and determination displayed by SergeantGosling and Constable Hodgkinson, and for theirgallant conduct on this occasion he promotesSergeant Gosling to 32/8d per week and ConstableHodgkinson to 28/- per week from the 2nd instant".So there you go Ann, on this occasion Thomas has'shone' and I hope this will throw a differentlight on Thomas's service.Sincere best wishes.Jim.