Brian Starkey

The photo did not come out of any book written by Jon Weston. Please do not credit it to him. The owner of the photo has had it for many years.

I'll find out about the photo. In the meantime take a look at the badges etc. here:

Insignia

I have never heard of Jon Weston. The photograph was sent to me. Please feel free to delete if necessary.

(photos courtesy of Jon Weston. 'Helmets and Caps)

Liverpool officers were issued with white cotton, white woollen and black leather gloves. I only wore the white cotton gloves on ceremonial occasions. Personally I never wore the woollen gloves.

Brian,

The helmet would hurt your brow (headache) and when taken off would leave a mark where it had been. When wearing the helmet you had to pull it forward, place the knuckle of your thumb on the tip of your nose and then pull the helmet forward so that the peak touched the tip of your thumb. This made your head stand up and make you, I supopose taller and smarter in appearance. The best way of softening them up was to place them on a radiator when completely wet from the rain.

In Liverpool we had two types of uniform, one for winter and the other for summer. You couldn't change from one to the other without the order of the Chief Constable. The change from winter uniform to summer happened in the spring of each year. If it was a warm spring well.............. until the order arrived, then came 'shirt sleeve order' as it got warmer and you could take your tunic off but, shirt sleeves had to be rolled up in a tidy manner. No such thing as a short sleeve shirt in those days.

Please feel free to ask me anything about the uniform. When I was a young Constable (19yrs) I wore a cape in the winter months.

Brian

There seems to be a love/hate by British Police Officers both past and present regarding the wearing of the custodian helmet. I've read posts on another forum that some love the helmet while other hate it. Some say it is outdated and uncomfortable to wear and should be discarded. Others say that is gives them an easily recognizable symbol for the public as well as other officers. Some hold to tradition while others claim to be wanting to move on to be in step with more modern times.

I would really like to hear from past and present police officers on this topic and of course I'd like to see any headgear in your collections whether you are a police officer or not.

Thanks for reading through this very long post, I hope you felt it worth your time.

Regards

Brian

The helmet is very uncomfortable to wear when new until it, softens up.

After a little research I can confirm that the officer wearing the shako was a sergeant in the Liverpool Parks Police. As for the cane, I have seen Merseyside Police sergeants carrying such an item so it may have been a traditional accoutrement for Liverpool sergeants and the tradition has continued to this day.

There is very good website about the "Toffs Police" with plenty of photos herehttp://www.liverpoolparkspolice.co.uk

The sticks being carried by Sgt.'s in Liverpool were also carried by senior officers. They are called signalling sticks or night sticks and used to call Constables to them. This was used prior to the invention of radios. On night duty the Sgt. would bang the stick on the kerb stone to summon the beat Constable for the area he was in. The Constable would use his truncheon to respond in the same manner. Eventually they would both meet up.

Hi Mervyn,

Thank you for the welcome. The website is updated on a regular basis. I have many photographs that have not yet been published. Liverpool City Police has a very interesting past and was unique. Quite a few Chief Constables went on to be the Commisioner of the Metropolitan Police. The most recent being, Bernard Hogan-Howe.

Another example is the uniform. Liverpool City Police > Liverpool & Bootle Constabulary > Merseyside Police. All Officers, Inspector and above have silver braid on the peak. All other police forces have the traditional black.

During its early years the Fire Brigade was a Division of the Police force. The modern day Fire Service did not exist. Hence the term, 'Fire Bobbies'.

Adrob,

Thank you for your kind words about the website.

Hello everyone,

My first post here. I see that a number of you have an interest in the history of police forces, uniform etc. May I suggest that you take a look at this website:

http://liverpoolcitypolice.co.uk/

If you have any questions then please don't hesitate to ask.