PMCC Magazine 336

Police Medals and Awards

(Part Five)

By: David Picton-King

Leamington Special Constabulary Medal

Date: c.1918.
Ribbon: No ribbon issued.
Metal: Bronze.
Size: 32 mm.

Description: (Obverse) circular medal, suspended from a pin brooch bearing the words ‘Voluntary Service’. The medal has a circumference band with the words ‘Leamington Special Constabulary 1918’. Inside the band the Arms of Leamington are shown. (Reverse) plain, and with the name of the recipient engraved at the centre.

Comments: This medal was awarded to all members of the Leamington Special Constabulary for service during World War 1.

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Leith Burgh Constabulary Gallantry Medal

Date: 1881.
Ribbon: Pale white watered silk.
Metal: Unknown (probably silver).
Size: Unknown.

Description: (Obverse) circular medal, with an ornate suspender. The medal has a raised plain circumference band. The central area has the Arms of Leith surrounded by the engraved words ‘John Henderson Provost’. (Reverse) in the same form as the obverse. The centre area has wording engraved as follows: ‘Presented with thirty guineas by the Provost, Magistrate, Town Council, Public of Leith and others to Police Constable John Cameron for an act of conspicuous bravery in arresting two armed men who had shot at & wounded several persons in Edinburgh & Leith on 4 Feb 1881’.

Comments: This medal was awarded to at least one member of the Leith Police, although others also took part in the brave acts so may have also received this medal. On the face of it, it may be a one-off award but the potential that others were also similarly issued creates the possibility more examples will be seen.

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Leith Special Constabulary World War 1 Medal

Date:1919.
Ribbon: 33 mm, black with a 10 mm central white stripe.
Metal: Bronze.
Size: 36 mm.

Description: (Obverse) circular medal with a straight bar suspender, the words ‘Leith Special Constabulary’ around the circumference and the Arms of Leith in the centre. (Reverse) a laurel wreath around the outer circumference, and the words ‘For- Long And- Continuous- Service- 1914-1918’ in 5 lines in the central area. The medals were issued unnamed, and with a blackened bronze finish.

Comments: This medal was awarded to all Special Constables of the Leith Burgh Police for their service during World War 1. The medal wording indicates ‘Continuous Service’ but it is not known if that meant from 1914 through to 1918, or was for any period during the war.

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Leith Special Constabulary Service Star

Date:1914.
Ribbon: No ribbon issued.
Metal: White metal, possibly silver.
Size: 26 mm across.

Description: (Obverse) 5-pointed star shaped badge with a central circular area, having a circumference band with the words ‘Leith’ at top and ‘1914’ below. Inside the band are the stylised letters ‘SC’. (Reverse) plain pressed metal, with two pin lugs soldered on. The badge is identical in form (except for the name of the force and date), to those awarded by the Metropolitan, Hull and possibly other forces.

Comments: Virtually identical to similar awards made by the Metropolitan and Hull police, it is thought this badge was awarded to all Special Constables of the Leith Constabulary who were serving at the outbreak of World War 1, or possibly to those who served longer than a defined period such as 3 years.

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Lincoln City Police Good Service Medal

Buckle brooch

Date:1926.
Ribbon: 32 mm, red with a narrow central green stripe.

Metal: Silver.
Size: 36 mm.

Description: (Obverse) a circular medal with a circumference band containing the words ‘For Good Service’ above, and ‘Lincoln City Police’ below. (Reverse) a wreath of laurel leaves around the circumference with the centre plain to receive inscriptions. The medal had a straight bar suspender and a buckle pin brooch when issued.

Comments: This medal was awarded to all members of the force on completion of 20 years’ service without any default recorded. It was formally abolished on 5th October 1941 but members were allowed to wear it until retirement.

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Lincolnshire Police Chief Constable’s Commendation with Star

Date: Prior to 2000, exact year not known.
Ribbon: No ribbon issued.
Metal: Embroidered bullion wire badge.
Size: Approximately 30 mm high and wide.

Description: (Obverse) a four-pointed star shaped multi-coloured bullion wire embroidered badge. (Reverse) plain cloth backing.

Comments: This badge is awarded by the Lincolnshire Police as part of the Chief Constable’s Commendation with Star. This is awarded to officers who have displayed:

· Exceptional operational performance
· Life or lives at extreme risk.
· Bravery and courage displayed vividly.

The recipient receives a parchment Certificate detailing the award and the Star badge to be worn on the lower left tunic sleeve, seven inches above the cuff edge. Since the year 2000, fourteen awards of the Star and Commendation have been made. The award was being issued in 2022 so is still extant. In about 2020 a small metal badge in similar form as the embroidered badge was also issued to denote the award, for wear by recipients on their daily uniform as tunics are increasingly not used in operational duties.

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Liverpool City Police Order Of Merit Medal

Date:1851.
Ribbon: 32 mm, dark blue with red narrow edge stripes and a thin central red stripe.
Metal: Silver.
Size: 36 mm.

Description: (Obverse) a circular medal with an elaborate laurel wreath around the Arms of Liverpool (the Liver bird), and a scroll above the Arms reading ‘Deus Nobis HaecOtiaFecit’, and the date ‘9thOctr1851’ below. (Reverse) a circumference band with the words ‘Order Of Merit’ above, and Liverpool Police Force’ below. The centre has the words ‘Presented- By- The Watch- Committee- To- (engraved recipient name)- As A Reward- For Good- Conduct’ in 9 lines. The medal has a straight bar suspender.

Comments: This medal was to commemorate the visit to Liverpool of Queen Victoria on 9th October 1851, but also had a ‘long service’ component which required the recipient to have completed 5 years of unblemished service prior to the Queen’s visit. Each additional 5-year period of good service, back to the founding of the force in 1836, was recognised by the award of a plain silver bar, as shown at left.

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Liverpool City Police Diamond Jubilee Good Service Medal

Obverse- silver version, identical to bronze

Date:1897.
Ribbon: 32 mm, dark blue with red narrow edge stripes and a thin central red stripe.
Metal: Silver and bronze versions, identical.
Size: 36 mm.

Description: (Obverse) circular medal with a circumference band with the words ‘For Good Service’ at the top, and ‘Liverpool City Police’ below. (Reverse) the words ‘Victoria Diamond Jubilee 1837-1897’ around the circumference, with the veiled head of Queen Victoria in the centre. The medal had a straight bar suspender.

Comments: This medal was issued to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897, but probably had some criteria regarding long and good service as well. Silver medals were awarded to officers of Inspector rank or above (46 awarded), while bronze went to Sergeants and Constables (63 awarded)..

-o-O-o-

Liverpool City Police Good Service Medal (1900)

Silver Bronze


Obverse - silver version, identical to bronze	Reverse - bronze version identical to silver

Date:1900.
Ribbon: Silver medal- 34 mm, red with a diagonal dark blue stripe and very thin red edge stripes. Bronze medal- 32 mm dark blue with a red diagonal stripe.
Metal: Silver and bronze versions, identical.
Size: 36 mm.

Description: (Obverse) circular medal with a circumference band with the words ‘For Good Service’ at the top, and ‘Liverpool City Police’ below. The Arms of Liverpool, inside an oak and laurel wreath are in the centre. (Reverse) a laurel wreath around the circumference, with the engraved words ‘Presented By- Watch- Committee (Date)’ in 4 lines in the centre. Both medals were issued with a rectangular buckle pin brooch in silver or bronze respectively.

Comments: Following the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Medal which also had a long service criterion, in 1900 the Watch Committee introduced this medal purely to recognise long service. Awarded for 20 years of good service, initially silver medals were awarded to officers of Inspector or higher rank, and bronze to Sergeants and Constables. In 1918 this was changed so the bronze was awarded to all ranks for 20 years’ service, and the silver after 25 years. A bar to the medal was awarded after 30 years’ service, reading ‘Service Over 30 Years’.

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Liverpool City Police Good Service Medal (c.1932)

Silver Bronze

Obverse - silver version, identical to bronze

Reverse - bronze

version identical to

silver

Date: c. 1932.
Ribbon: 34 mm; the silver medal ribbon was red, with a wide central dark blue stripe edged with thin white stripes. The bronze medal was dark blue, with a wide red central stripe edged with thin white stripes.
Metal: Silver and bronze versions, identical.
Size: 36 mm.

Description: (Obverse) circular medal with a circumference band with the words ‘For Good Service’ at the top, and ‘Liverpool City Police’ below. The Arms of Liverpool, inside an oak and laurel wreath are in the centre. (Reverse) a laurel wreath around the circumference, with the engraved words ‘Presented By- Watch- Committee (Date)’ in 4 lines in the centre. Both medals were issued with a rectangular buckle pin brooch in silver or bronze respectively.

Comments: Following the 1900 Good Service Medal, in about 1930 a new design was created. It retained the medal design but changed the ribbons to a more contemporary vertical stripe style. The 20-year service criteria remained unchanged, with bronze awarded to all ranks. The silver medal was awarded to all ranks after service of 25 years. All serving officers who had medals with the old diagonal stripes had them replaced with the new vertical stripe design. However retired officers retained the earlier medal and did not receive a replacement. A bar to the medal in the same style was awarded after 30, and 35-years’ service. Both versions of the medal were issued with a rectangular buckle pin brooch.

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U.K. Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary

and

Civil Nuclear Constabulary Photographs

Submitted by: Matthew Okuhara

UKAEAC officers during a shift change at Sellafield in the 1980s.

UKAEAC officers conducting firearms training at Dounreay in the far north of Scotland.

UKAEAC officers oversee the delivery of equipment to a nuclear cargo ship, early 2000s.

A CNC officer taking part in a gunnery exercise in the North Atlantic.

A CNC police officer on patrol at a nuclear power station.

CNC officers training at the Sellafield.

An officer from the Strategic Escort Group taking part in gunnery training.

Marine Escort Group (later Strategic Escort Group) officers training aboard a nuclear cargo ship.

An officer from the CNC Marine Escort Group.

Dynamic Intervention training in an oxygen depleted environment at Sellafield.

Officers train to operate in an oxygen depleted environment at Sellafield.

A CNC graduate.

CNC officers on a driving course with North Wales Police.

A CNC police officer at a nuclear power station.

A Marine Escort Group officer training aboard a nuclear transport ship.

A General Purpose Machine Gun, used for defence aboard armed transport vessels.

A CNC Marine Escort Group officer.

Training on the GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun) with the CNC’s Strategic Escort Group.

The Bridlington Police Pillars

Research can be really, really interesting...

The amount of historical records which are available on-line are increasing daily, but they are still only the tip of the iceberg of written records which exist, in archives, on dusty shelves and in stores, waiting to be digitised.

So in June when the National Library of Scotland released the latest tranche of large scale Ordnance Survey maps from 1944 to 1973, which have come out of OS copyright, I thought it was a chance to do some more research.

Although the Ordnance Survey has a copy of every map it has ever produced, it is a business and so it only sells maps, even copies of old maps and nothing is freely available online.

Copyright on OS Maps is fifty years, so anyone in possession of an original paper map, printed before 1973 can scan and make available a copy, credited of course, but copyright free.

Many organisations over the years purchased copies of the very large scale maps, at 25" and the later metric scale of 1:1,250. The police were just one purchaser, because the STATS19 reports to central government on road traffic collisions required an 8 digit map reference.

Former Scouts and Guides will remember that a standard map reference is just 6 digits starting with the two letter identifier for each of the 100 km by 100 km UK grid square. The only way to get an eight digit reference was to have the very large scale maps. Each six figure reference was duplicated in each 100 km².

Other purchasers were local authorities and Solicitors. Many of these maps have passed into public collection and the foremost is the National Library of Scotland. These are the maps which were released online in June.

I have a vague memory of being told that there was a police pillar in Bridlington, but there was no information. So I started looking at the thirty seven 1:1,250 maps which cover the town.

Ordnance Survey maps all have an extensive key to the different symbols used on maps. On these very large scale maps, which have always shown a lot of street furniture, by the late 1930's the three letter codes FAP, PCB and PTP had been added for Fire Alarm Point, Police Call Box and Police Telephone Pillar.

Although Police Boxes had been on the streets of Britain since the late 1920's, it would be a decade before they began to be shown on OS maps.

My research resulted in finding 14 pillars and a single police box. I had never seen a photograph of any of the pillars before I started this research.

My next avenue when carrying out research is to use the power of Social Media in Bridlington and asked on the "Bridlington - The good old days" facebook group.

"** The Good Old Days" is a name used by many villages, towns and cities for a facebook group for historical photo sharing for the named place. There are other groups with "history" or "Bygone days" in the title too.

This is the largest of the Bridlington local's groups with 11,500 members. I started by searching for "Police" and found one photo of a pillar, caught incidentally in a street scene.

The Cross Street pillar

The next step was to ask a question of the members and this produced a couple more photographs and also stirred the memories of local people about these pieces of street furniture.

Putting this information together I started writing another PMCC Monograph.

The club Monographs have been mentioned before in the magazine and consist of copies of the National Library of Scotland maps showing the police box or pillar (PCB or PTP on the maps), a photo of it in situ where possible and then a current view from Google Street View.

I kept updating the members of the Bridlington Facebook group and this threw up some questions about 19th century street furniture, asking if I could identify small pillars at locations where police pillars later appeared.

Long time members may recall the three part series I wrote about "Fire Bobbies" (issues 313, 315 and 317 available in the PMCC archive) and how where there were police fire brigades in urban areas, 'Fire Call' boxes and pillars later became police boxes.

I could identify one of the Bridlington pillars as a Boydell fire call box, but Bridlington never had a police brigade.

However Scarborough, just up the coast, did have a police brigade. So I contacted the historian of the police and local authority fire brigade in Scarborough and he confirmed that in the late 19th century, Scarborough Police did install fire call points which were later replaced by police pillars.

My presumption is that because of the close links between the Boroughs of Scarborough and Bridlington, it was Bridlington which followed the idea. Nowhere else in the East Riding Constabulary area seems to have installed the equipment.

Again using Facebook social media groups, I contacted retired police officer groups for both police forces and NARPO and this resulted in recollections from officers who were stationed at Bridlington in the 1960's, about the use of pillars. One thing I was searching for, but have yet to find, is a copy of the East Riding Constabulary Beat Book, which covers the use of the Bridlington pillars and box.

Another very useful research resource is the British Newspaper Archive. A specific date search found several newspaper articles about the establishment of the pillar system in April 1950.

The Hull Daily Mail reported on the 1st March 1968 that the 16 police pillars had been switched out of service, superseded by personal radios and "Panda cars".

I have now completed an updated Monograph, which includes all the new information. If you would like a copy, it is in PDF format and you can read or download it using the link in the section immediately preceeding this article.

We have a very active PMCC Facebook group dedicated to the history of police pillars and boxes at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/policepillarsandboxes

Three more Monographs, covering different pillar and box beat systems are in preparation.

Who is it in the photograph?

This is an Ambrotype photograph I have, dated to c.1860 and shows the "Turnkey" and his wife outside the Beverley prison.

The Turnkeys at the Beverley House of Correction

There was a question in the PMCC Facebook group recently about the Turnkey of the Bristol Gaol, which reminded me about this 150 year old image which I had not researched.

I turned for help with both questions to our resident expert in Genealogy research, John Fox.

Often it is knowing the right question to ask, in the right place, which brings up answers.

John quickly established that the male and female Turnkeys at Beverly could be the aptly named Abraham and Mary Lockham, shown "in post" in the 1861 Census for Beverley. Residing at the East Riding House of Correction, North Bar Without, Beverley. Abraham was a labourer in Hull in 1841, an Officer in the House of Correction Beverley in 1851 but didn't appear in the 1871 census.

They were in their 60's in 1861, he supposedly born 1796, Abraham died in 1869 aged approx 72 and Mary aged approx 73 in 1868, both died in Beverley.

The apparent age of the couple in the photo and the fact they are the only turnkey duo listed, I'm convinced the Ambrotype photograph is of them.

The East Riding House of Correction was opened in 1809 at the rear of the Quarter Sessions building on New walk in Beverley.

The 1853 plans on the National Library of Scotland maps database show an extensive building including a "Governors house" and a "Turnkeys House".

The establishment included a "treadmill" and also a "Whiting works".

Even after closely studying the map, I am unable to identify the main entrance which is shown in the photograph.

The House of Correction was closed in 1878 and most of it was demolished. The three story Turnkey's house, an octagonal building still exists and is a private residence.

Until 1810, prisoners from the wider East Riding awaiting trial at the quarter sessions would have been held in the East Riding house of correction adjacent to the Beverley Guildhall.

A new and larger East Riding House of Correction was built next to the new Sessions House Quarter Sessions Court on New Walk in 1810. From 1810, prisoners awaiting trial in the quarter sessions, or transportation after being sentenced, would have been held here.

After 1810, the old house of correction adjacent to Beverley Guildhall was turned into a borough gaol and used mainly as a temporary lock-up for prisoners who were awaiting magistrates court trials in the Beverley Guildhall.

The history of the East Riding House of Correction and Prison has been extensively researched.

A house of correction evidently existed from 1584, when the East Riding justices collected money for its erection and Beverley corporation paid for the right to send people there. The house was moved to new premises in 1611, when the justices rented part of the town's guildhall for it, and the governors of the House of Correction were given trees by the corporation in 1632 to build a horse mill behind it.

A new lease was sought in 1649 and another taken in 1663; an inscribed stone bearing the latter date survived and was found in 1988. In 1703 the justices had a new lease of part of the guildhall so that it could be used as both a House of Correction and a Sessions House.

When some of the rooms were given over to the Charity school in 1710 alterations were made, including the building of a workhouse in the yard for the prisoners. The lease was again renewed in 1742, reserving for the corporation a "room for a lunatic", and again in 1785, reserving inter alia the use of the house of correction for vagrants and lunatics.

Already in 1751 the house was described as "ruinous and inadequate". Only one or two prisoners were held there in the 1770s. The lease was surrendered and the keys of the prison given up in 1811, when it then became the borough prison.

A new House of Correction or prison for the East Riding was built, along with a new Sessions House, in New Walk between 1805-09. As first occupied in 1810 it contained 22 cells. Alterations included the addition of workshops in 1812, 4 cells in 1814, 33 cells on the introduction of a system of classification of prisoners in 1820, and a treadmill in 1823.

Day rooms were converted to cells in 1835, giving a total of 126 cells, after the introduction of a system of silence among prisoners. Some cells were enlarged in the 1860s, reducing the total number to 107. The number of prisoners held was usually around 60 in the 1860s and 1870s. The institution was transferred to the Prison Commissioners and closed in 1878 under the Prisons Act of the previous year, the inmates being sent to West Riding prisons.

The buildings were sold by the Prison Commissioners in 1880 to a builder, Marmaduke Whitton, who converted some of them to houses, sold the governor's house to be a convent, and demolished most of the rest of the buildings.

After the formation of the East Riding Constabulary in January 1856 part of the Sessions House in New Walk was appropriated as a police station for the North Hunsley division, with offices for the chief constable. The Borough of Beverley had maintained its own police force since 1836.

The divisional station was later moved elsewhere but the county headquarters remained at the Sessions House.

The now disused former convent, behind the sessions house, was bought in 1959 and adapted as police accommodation in 1961-2.

The buildings remains police owned and are a Humberside Police Divisional HQ.

Here I have to make a disclosure!

Back in issue 322, in September 2021, I wrote about restoring this very old photograph I have in my collection.

Having found the 1853 map of the East Riding House of Correction, I can now update the location and date of the photograph. It was taken in the triangular yard outside the Whiting Warehouse, on the north side of the house of correction.

Once again I turned to John for help to identify the well dressed man wearing the Panama hat, next to Turnkey Lockham. My presumption is that he is the Prison Governor. John came up with the name Alfred Shepherd.

In the 1851 census, he is shown as the governor of the prison, and again in 1861 and 1871. His father had been the governor of the prison before him. He retired in 1878 when the prison was closed and died in 1882.

A Google search for "Alfred Shepherd, Prison Governor" returns a lot of Beverley prisoner's photographs that he took. So it is perhaps unsurprising that with an interest in photography, he allowed himself and the Turnkey to be subjects in very early photography.

The man on the left is the same Abraham Lockham who was in the first photograph and was the Turnkey until his death in 1869.

History really is a continuous voyage of discovery....

Click on article title	Editorial	Leamington Spa Police	Police Medals and Awards	Civil Nuclear Constabulary
Berkshire Cap Badges	History Matters	Police Pillars & Boxes	Bridlington Police Pillars	Whose Photograph
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