Family Historian User Group

I have a picture of a relative in a constables uniform circa 1800-1900, there is a collar number of 722 showing. Can anyone suggest a way of tracing his name.

If you can identify which force (and its successor force) you may find that either they have an archivist who may be able to help or that they can tell you who has custody of their archives and in turn they may be able to help.

Never sure which is better a gentle call to the main switchboard asking to be put through to "historical records" and hope to find someone helpful or an email to archives@[force].police.uk and hope it bounces around to the right person.

Post the photo on here and let us take a look. Also look at some of the Facebook groups to see if someone there can help, but all will want to see the photo.

An email address beginning with "archives" may not exist for every force. If you have a clear and detailed image and approximate date, it may be possible to identify or narrow down the force concerned from details of the uniform, such as collar insignia other than the numbers, the shape of the helmet and the badge or crest, etc.

Most forces will have someone willing to help. The force I retired from doesn't have an archive/archivist as such, or any official historical records department, but there is a historical society run by officers and staff, both serving and retired, in their own time.

If making a speculative enquiry though, I would suggest an email to the advertised general public contact address for the force concerned, enquiring if there is anyone who can help you and outlining the reason for your enquiry as briefly as possible.

Hopefully you will get a response from a person or department willing to help, and can pass on full details.

Does your relative in police uniform appear in any censuses? If so, their occupation and/or location may also give you some idea of the force concerned. Bear in mind though that prior to 1964, the current structure of county or regional police forces did not exist, and there were many more small City, Borough and other police forces, since amalgamated or absorbed into County forces.

This might help : https://www.genguide.co.uk/source/polic ... cupations/

If you scroll to the 'Where Found' section it gives some pointers. But as others have said, you need to know which part of the country your relative served in.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, he could have been in the Cumbria or Lancashire force. Have added the photo using Dropbox link https://www.dropbox.com/s/emapy3ftb13o7 ... 4.jpg?dl=0. As for the census I was sure I had seen an entry showing occupation as a constable, but going through my saved information I can't now find it.

Looks like a studio portrait; do you have access to the actual photo? Does it have the photographer or studio details on the back?

john_rainford wrote: ↑

29 May 2022 15:36

... he could have been in the Cumbria or Lancashire force. ...

Of those two options, the badge looks very much like the Lancashire Constabulary - see https://www.etsy.com/se-en/listing/7155 ... lancashire

The Cumberland and Westmorland Constabulary (to give it a contemporary name) appears to be a more round device - see http://www.pmcc-club.co.uk/museum/displ ... play_media

There are other smaller predecessors for the Lancashire - http://www.pmcc-club.co.uk/museum/index.php?cat=34 mentions some, while it also has a couple of Lancashire bobbies, e.g. http://www.pmcc-club.co.uk/museum/displ ... play_media

I agree with Adrian, but the link for the Cumbria police is this one: http://www.pmcc-club.co.uk/museum/displ ... play_media

satyricon wrote: ↑

29 May 2022 22:17

I agree with Adrian, but the link for the Cumbria police is this one ...

Whoops - thanks Adrian. An excess of confidence in my links, I fear...

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated. Regarding the photo, it was on glass so no info about the studio.