Metropolitan Police Met Police Medals

[MetPolice]

Hi All,

Does anyone know anything about

PC Norman NORMAN 3rd Division (Middle Name: Emery, Warrant No: 79602)

Awarded 1897, 1902, 1911 Medals

PC H(enry?) CHAPMAN K Division (Probably a Coronation Rejoiner)

Awarded 1902 Coronation Medal (if a rejoiner probably awarded earlier medals?)

PC George Henry WHITEHEAD P Division (Warrant No: 69938)

Awarded 1887 and 97 Bar and 1902 Coronation

Also, does anyone know if Inspector Frederick George ABBERLINE was awarded any medals (he was serving in 1887 as a detective with A Division/Commissioners Office ?

Thanks in Advance

[Odin Mk 3]

First of all Abberline joined the Met 05/01/1963 and retired 08/02/1892 as a Chief Inspector in CO Div (Commissioner's Office Scotland Yard). His Warrant Number was 43519. He would have earned the 1887 Medal and in June 1887 he was an Inspector in H Div - so his medal should show this information. He moved to CO Div 25/07/1887 and was promoted to Ch Insp 22/12/1890 (he remained in CO Div until he retired).

George Whitehead (69938) joined 22/12/1884 as a PC in 3rd Div (Devonport) and was pensioned 31/01/1910 as a PC in P Div (Camberwell) earning his 1887 & 1897 bar and 1902 Medals in P Div. No service sheet for him but I will dig out the attestation and discharge register entries for you this weekend.

Norman Norman (79602) joined 21/05/1894 as a PC in T Div (Hammersmith) and was pensioned as a PC in 3rd Div (Devonport) 11/07/1921. He earned his 1897, 1902 and 1911 Medals in 3rd Div. There is a service sheet for him which I will dig out this weekend.

PC Henry Chapman was indeed a pensioner who came back in 1902 for the 1902 Coronation and served in K Div (Bow). He was allocated a new Warrant Number 841 for the short time he served in 1902. I have tracked down an individual who appears to have left in 1894 (from K Div) and then re-joined for 1897 (in K Div) so I suspect this is your man who would have also earned an 1887 Jubilee Medal with 1897 bar. I will sort out the 'evidence' for you - it is all rather complicated as the Discharge Register shows his name as William Henry instead of Henry William.

Edited April 18, 2014 by Odin Mk 3

[Odin Mk 3]

I was able to find this one quickly - here is the service sheet for Norman Norman which shows he was a potter before he joined the Police. It does give you the date when he transferred to Devonport which is also where he finished his service in the Met.

Edited April 18, 2014 by Odin Mk 3

[Odin Mk 3]

Here are the Attestation and Discharge Register entries for Whitehead. When he attested he signed the register so that is a copy of his actual signature. The Discharge Register gives an indication of his performance in the Police as men who left (unless they were dismissed) were awarded a Certificate of Conduct - Whitehead got a Class 1 certificate which I think at that time was Excellent. Shortly after this they introduced an Exemplary mark and Class 1 became Very Good.

Interestingly on the same page of the discharge register is the dismissal of John Syme (shown as a Station PS). He had been an Inspector and was demoted to Stn PS for insubordination. He complained to the Commissioner about his treatment and was then dismissed from the force. Syme went on to form a Police Union which was promptly banned by the Commissioner. The Union subsequently replace Syme who had been the Union Secretary. Without him they were able to mount a successful strike in 1918 which lead to significant improvements in Police pay and conditions. However when a further strike was held in 1919 it was poorly supported and all Met Officers who took part were dismissed (just over 1000 men). The Police Federation was formed in that year and took on the role of the Police Union.

[Odin Mk 3]

I identified above a Henry Chapman (841) who re-joined in 1902 for the Coronation of Ed VII and received the medal as a PC in K Div.

I found there was a PC Henry William Chapman (65020) who joined 1/11/1880 as a PC in S Div (Hampstead) - the attestation page entry is shown below.

When he was discharged 09/01/1894 he was serving as a PC in K Div (Bow) and the Discharge Register shows his name incorrectly as William Henry Chapman. He received a Class 4 certificate of conduct which can be taken as 'no comment' (ie indifferent). I suspect he may have left on health grounds as many officers were not fit enough to perform their duties properly. However some of these men did come back later for the subsequent royal events as lining the route was hardly strenuous. The discharge page is included below. He would have been entitled to an 1887 Medal but I cannot determine which division he was in for June 1887.

I then found a man who re-joined in 1897 for the 60th Jubilee of Queen Victoria. These men were given new numbers and are shown in the Police Orders as all being assigned to CO Div (Scotland Yard). In reality they signed the attestation register again and were allocated to different divisions. Henry Chapman (83032) went to K Div and the attestation register entry is included below. I have also included the two signatures together - if you compare the form of the C they are identical - I think this is the same man.

I believe he then re-joined again in 1902 as 841 and earned the 1902 Medal named as PC K Div which you mentioned. The men who came back in 1902 were not required to re-attest so we don't have a third signature to compare.

I can find no other suitable individual who I can link to K Div so I think 65020 / 83032 / 841 are all the same man

Edited April 18, 2014 by Odin Mk 3

[MetPolice]

Thanks Odin!

It really helps!

[MetPolice]

Could it be him :

Henry CHAPMAN

Warrant Number - 55638

Born - 1854 Shoreham, Seven Oaks, Kent

Joined - 29 July 1872

Joined - W Division

Transferred to - K Division 31 November 1873

Given the Collar Number - 639.K

Sined a Petition for an Increse in Pay - 1878

Promoted to - Sergeant

Given the Collar Number - 96.K

Transferred to - D Division

Left - 1 August 1898

[Odin Mk 3]

Possibly and there is a firm K Div connection there.

I just wonder as he later moved to D Division I would have thought he possibly moved his home so that he was closer to the Marylebone area. I have usually found that when men re-joined for Coronations etc they tended to go back to their last divisions simply because many were still living in the area where they were stationed before they left the force.

Unfortunately there are too many officers named Henry Chapman to be absolutely sure which one we are dealing with here.

[MetPolice]

Would a good indicator of where he lived when he got discharged be his pension papers at TNA?

Did lists of rejoined men for the 1902 Coronation appear in Police Orders?

[Odin Mk 3]

The Pension Papers I have seen from the NA have the man's home address and his next of kin shown.

The men who re-joined in 1902 are shown in the Police Orders. HOWEVER there is a slight complication. Men started to re-join in June for this event but the Coronation of Edward VII was delayed until August because the King had appendicitis. There are further men who re-joined in August just prior to the actual Coronation.

Some men who joined in June resigned and didn't return in August, a few were actually dismissed and some left but then re-joined again in August (this time with a different number). An example of the latter is PC George Gillett D Div who re-joined as 1221 on 17th June 1902. He then re-joined D Div again as 2025 on 5th August 1902. He had previously served as 61064 from Jan 1877 to Jan 1902 and was pensioned from D Div.

PC Henry Chapman was a bit easier to follow - he re-joined just once on 13/06/1902 going to K Div as Warrant No 841.

Possibly the men who re-joined twice had other jobs and returned to them during the period June to August, whereas those who worked through may have been unemployed and used the opportunity to earn a few more pounds. The 1901 Census may be of use to establish if Henry Chapman was working or not (assuming you can find him on the census).

Edited April 21, 2014 by Odin Mk 3

[Odin Mk 3]

You also have asked about the following medals:

1887 Medal with 1897 Bar to PC Henry Foster Y Div

1887 Medal with 1897 Bar plus 1902 Medal to PC J Davies R Div

Also you identified that Foster joined 26/08/1872 and was soon dismissed before re-joining again later that year.

I will start with Henry James Foster. He was too early for a service sheet but there are attestation and discharge register entries for him.

These show he initially joined 26/08/1872 as a PC in E Division (Holborn) with the Warrant Number 55737 - attestation register entry is included below.

On 16/11/1872, 7 PSs and 173 PCs refused to go on duty - the men were from D Div (Marylebone), P Div (Camberwell), E Div (Holborn) and T Div (Kensington later called Hammersmith); this was in support of PC Goldsmith the secretary of a pay negotiation committee. All the officers were sacked but two weeks later most of these men were re-instated. They were fined a week's pay and the PSs were demoted. They were also required to re-attest and sign the oaths again.

Foster must have been one of these men as he re-attested on 29/11/1872 as a PC in E Div with a new Warrant Number 56233. If you compare the two attestation signatures they are identical (see below).

I don't have any further information on him except when he was discharged (he probably resigned and took his gratuity) 6/09/1897. He received a Class 3 Certificate of Conduct = Good. (Discharge Register entry is included below). When he left he was a PC in Y Div (Highgate). Unfortunately I don't have any Police Orders information on him so I can't tell you when he transferred from E to Y Div.

Edited May 3, 2014 by Odin Mk 3

[Odin Mk 3]

PC John Davies joined 17/11/1884 as a PC in R Division (Greenwich) with the Warrant Number 69930. He is too early for a service sheet but his attestation entry is attached.

He was pensioned 22/11/09, still serving as a PC in R Division. The discharge register page is attached. He received a Class 2 Certificate of Conduct (which I think still meant Very Good - but note this numbering system was soon changed when the marking became Exemplary, 1 = Very Good, 2 = Good, etc)

Davies had the collar number 160R when he retired and appears to have spent his whole career in the same division.

I have no other information on the officer I'm afraid.