Mervyn Mitton

Could you do a close-up of badge - too small to see at present.

A drawer with Special Constables' truncheons. (I hope the size is large enough to see them?) From the left : 1. Cleckheaton. Q. Victoria . When they put 1st. - it shows a date between 1837 and approx. 1841. They realised that she was the only 'Victoria' so, stopped the number for monarchs of the same name. 2. Early Victorian. This shape is called a 'baluster' - basically from the chair legs of the period. 3. Bradford 4. Liverpool comm. truncheon from the Police strike and riots of 1919. They were given to police who did not strike - it just has the small silver band. The riots were so bad the navy sailed two warships up the Mersey and landed armed seamen. 5. Rawling (?) 6. Birmingham 7. Manchester 17. General Strike 1926 - Bradford 13 Isle of Wight 19. Early Isle of Wight.

Birmingham

Blackburn

Close-up of Rochdale and the unidentified one

With quite a number of members having an interest in Special Constables, I thought there might be ref. material in this set. I have forgotten which town's coat of arms is on the middle one - perhaps someone will recognise it ? When the 1st.WW started in 1914, many regular police left to join-up - the result was that in haste, the authorities had to start a war reserve special police force. I mentioned , in an earlier post, that they had only basic identity badges and they carried a truncheon. When the War ended a number of Midlands towns had truncheons specially made to handout as mementoes to those men who had volunteered. The crests were transfers, and as such are liable to rubbing - so, rarely are they in this condition. From left, they are : Rochdale ; ? ; Blackburn

Alan, I may still have the badge - it will have to wait until I can get someone to go to the flat. Ian has had quite a few pieces from the collection. Look forward to your posts and will check your webste when I log off.

Following Darrel's MM post, I thought these may be of interest. Hopefully the tags will be large enough to read.

Dear Alan From another recent member - may I say welcome ! I had not realised Huntingdonshire was such a small force - I expect you will have the same problems posting pictures that all us 'newbies' had - however, it would be great to see some of your pictures. Mervyn

Set of 5 pages for 50 Players cigarette cards - showing dress uniforms. They were printed in 1938. Page one is Sth.African, and Aust. Pages 2/3/4 are Indian Regts. and page 5 - different Colonial regts. I hope they enlarge enough to see properly - if anyone would like a close-up of any particular ones, let me know. mervyn

Kind of you to look - they came from the family and the date sets them as an officer's private purchase? These 'mysteries' are sent to try us - I have a very rare DFM from WW1 - bought from the man's daughter -but, we later found out that the numbers don't tie in and the lettering is different from some examples. He was an ace with the RNAS and shot down 7 German planes - he started as a marine on the first RNAS airship - 'Nulli Secundus' - there are pages on his service on the internet , incl. that he joined again in WW2 and after a year on atlantic patrols was discharged, due to age and spent the rest of the war in the ARP. I will post the info.. I have if you would be interested ? Mervyn

After the Mutiny had been concluded - and we had finished tying the mutineers over canon mouths and then firing them (!) - the British took over from the East India Company. One of their first acts in 1860 , was to set-up police forces - not entirely on the new British system , but certainly with an officer administration based on the British ideas from 1829. I mentioned earlier, that three main cities were selected to be regional force H.Q.'s and the officers in charge , were styled Commissioner. Our hero - from the 35th.Regt. M.N.I.( - probably all blown-up, if they rebelled - ) was created the first police commissioner for Madras Province. I have sold this tipstaff some time ago - I often wonder if the person who bought it realises just how historically important it is - despite it's small size.

Very rarely do you find police and military associated on truncheons and tipstaffs. This example is not only unusual, but extremely rare from the historical viewpoint. The East India Company was set up in the time of Charles 2nd. to adminster trade - mainly with India - as they grew in wealth and power they took over territories and to adminster them, had their own army, navy and a full civil administration. The army was large and was created, mainly from local forces, but with English officers, in different areas of India. After the Mutiny, Britain took over control of India and created new armies and a Police force - this last was centred in three main cities - Bombay, Madras and Delhi. This silver plated tipstaff - on brass - has Queen Victoria's crown and cypher at the top - it is approx. 7 inches overall. The owner - as inscibed around the barrel , was : J.C.BOULDERSON. Major 35th. Regt. M.N.I. Nov. 1856. 35th were one of the regiments of Madras Native Infantry - I think they numbered 39 or, 40 in total.

I recently saw under one of the topics, some interest in S.A. shoulder flashes. These are for Pretoria and Johannesburg traffic departments and are pre 1994 - the star is interesting , copying the US Sheriffs. In addition to traffic, they also had a police function, with a general power of arrest. mervyn

Stuart Thankyou for that info. - I have a book on their service in Sth. Africa in the 1840's and thought it looked similar. I also have a lovely example of the King's Dragoon Guards - Edward V11 - will post it another time. I would also like to purchase a copy of your new book - sounds very informative - congratulations. We occasionally have the topees from Boer War and, also, the WW2 S.A. sun helmet. The Zulu War British ones are now very hard to find - although the Boers bought a lot of surplus ones and used them for the ZARPS (police) and the President's Guard. Mervyn

Interesting and very rare poster to advise the residents of Shadwell in 1818 - who their constable was on given dates and , who to call for fires. Shadwell is the area beyond the Tower of London - going East. It was a poor area and notorious for crime - the infamous Ratcliffe Highway ran through the area to give access to the West Indies Docks and ships. Should some one in those days commit suicide - or, be executed, they could not be buried in Consecrated ground and were buried in the centre of crossroads. I was stationed at Bethnal Green - next to this area - and quite regularly skeletons were dug up, from old cross roads. The new Canary Wharf and the City airport are now at the far eastern end - I bet the people 200 years ago didn't expect that to happen !!

This wonderful helmet is for an officer of the 7th. Dragoon Guards - The Princess Royal's . They were first established in 1688 on the accession of King William 3rd. They served in the Cape from 1843 to 1848 and I think this helmet is about that date. It has a beautiful silver helmet plate with Queen Victoria's cypher and unlike their later badges the plate is shaped like a breast star. Dragoons are heavy cavalry and wear cuirasses - officers used to wear gold plated helmets in order to be seen clearly through the dust in battle. How they were formed is interesting - The Princess Royal ( the first to have this title - now usually given to the eldest daughter of the Monarch) Mary, was the daughter of Charles 1st. and became the Mother of William - Prince of Orange in the Netherlands. When Charles 2nd. died in 1685, his brother becames James 2nd. - however, he was Catholic and was driven out in 1688 (he later became the 'old pretender' and his son - Bonnie Prince Charlie, became the 'young pretender'). Just after Charles died The Princess Royal fled towards York to escape prison - the Earl of Devonshire came to her rescue with his guard. When William became King one of his first acts was to give Devonshire a Dukedom and allowed him to form the 10th.Horse - later the 7th Dragoons - The Princess Royals'. Since 2006 they are the Royal Dragoon Guards , with the 4th. and 5th Dragoons. The man who brought it in , paid ?10 - in a pub - in the 1950's !!!