Note: This seemed like a small museum that may only help a few people, but their website is a big surprise. I recommend you spend some time reviewing its features, and I wonder if other counties have similar facilities or websites.
It is easy to look for the service records of an ancestor that you suspect might have been a policeman in Essex. I entered the surname “BRETT” and got four results. They had the full records for one person, and I could order the file for £20. The other three were considered incomplete, but here is one as an example which I think contains a fair amount of information.
145 Alfred Brett served between 1842-05-24 - 1842-07-31
Unfortunately we have no complete record of service for Alfred Brett but we
do have the following information:
Date of birth: 1814
Place of birth: West Hanningfield
Occupation: Labourer
Date of death: 0000-00-00
Reason left force: Discharged - Incapacity
Comments:
Copyright: the Essex Police MuseumThe museum also publishes a series of booklets collectively known as ‘History Notebooks’. There are over 50 titles many of which have a person’s name included, such as ‘The Murder of Sergeant Eves’. Each one is downloadable as a pdf file at no charge.
Contact:
Becky Wash, Museum Curator
Direct Dial: 01245 457 150
Essex Police Museum, PO Box 2, Headquarters, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 6DA
www.essex.police.uk/museum
Are there other police museums out there? Yes! I googled ‘police museum UK’ and got the following and a few more.
Greater Manchester Police Museum www.gmpmuseum.com
City of London Police Museum www.citypolicemuseum.org.uk
West Midlands www.westmidlandspolicemuseum.co.uk
