Hello,
Welcome to my site / blog, which I started during Covid in May 2020 !
If you are reading this, then I guess you have a interest in Dorset or its Police Force, or both from times gone past.
I am posting this because in 2012 my mother who had lived on her own for nearly 20 years was struggling with her mental health and our family decided that she needed more help.
Mum lived just up the road from me, so when the decision was taken that she would need looking after, it was down to me to sort out her bungalow and possessions. On my days off, I would spend hours going through all her things and at one point I had to tackle the two garden sheds. One shed was quite grand, like a small pavilion, the other was totally the opposite, it was on it last legs, had no floor and on initial inspection seemed to be full of junk.
The older generations of the human race, all seem to suffers from a condition called hoarding, the older we get, the more we hang on to ! I know because I am starting to suffer from it !
I love spiders, because they eat the flies but they build webs anywhere and in naturally slightly dark, damp and dinghy places. This shed was the perfect home for a large family. Inside the shed were many old wooden tea chests used for years to remove household items round Dorset when moving from different police houses, so were well needed. All the chests had been well used and their metal edges were sharp and dangerous. There was no electricity so the” junk” was gradually moved out in to the daylight to establish if it was all to be “skipped”.
At the back of the shed was an old leather suitcase, the type you would seen a 1940’s film star carrying, when he got on a steam train at Kings Cross station in a black and white movie. My fiilm star suitcase had seen better days and might be housing a family of mice, because the corners were badly chewed and there were small holes, just about big enough for a family to enter and exit. The case was locked and I did not have a key so it was not till later after trying several keys that I decided brute force was the answer. To my surprise it was not at total mess of mouse dropping inside, but full of old police photographs and memorabilia. Now bearing in mind, my family served the Dorset Constabulary/Police from 1892 to 1985 I was not that surprised. However, I was pleasantly surprised as it was a bit of a treasure trove, if police history floats your boat !
Several days later on going through the photographs that were not of my family, I was a bit confused why I had them.
My mother said it was just police memorabilia that my grandfather had kept hold of, and to this day I believe he just kept hold of them because who else would look after them.
Victor SWATRIDGE, my grandfather, served for 32 years from 1923 to 1955, he loved Dorset ( who wouldn’t) the Dorset Constabulary. In his last 2 years service when he was the Admin Superintendent, he was asked by the Chief Constable to gather as much information and as many police relics as possible, so all the information could be used in the Centenary book written by the GRAY brothers.
Victor Walter SWATRIDGE, SUPT, Early 1950’s
The first thing that came to mind was, surely a police force keeps all its records, photographs, etc in an archive, or even a museum. Many Forces do, but not all. After reading my grandfather’s memoirs, he mentioned that a small museum was created at Dorchester police station in 1956. He said, that with all the relics, trophies, badges, uniform and photographs that had been collected for the centenary book, they were then on show in an old cell at headquarters. The small museum lasted until at least 1962, but my grandfather who still had close contacts with the Constabulary after retirement, said that he was disappointed to find out that the history and artefacts had been put in to storage and were no longer on display.
In October 1973, at a social function, as Chairman of Dorset NARPO, he spoke with Chief Constable Arthur HAMBLETON who agreed to display all of the Forces heritage again. When the Force HQ moved to Winfrith in 1976, another museum was created in a small room which was mainly visited by by recruits and royalty. photograph below.
Thanks to Melvin HANN for the image.
It appears that in the 1980’s or 90’s, again the museum’s appeal had faded and from others knowledge, most of the history was archived or moved around the Force and displayed in various stations. The old archive room at Dorchester literally, fell into disrepair when the roof collapsed and some items were saved from ruin and being thrown out by a upset Sgt, but even those records/items then disappeared. So who actually looks after the history of a police force for posterity? I think my grandfather tried his best whilst he was alive, but as time has passed then no one specialised in looking after the past and this has not been helped by the financial restraints placed on all our police forces in the 21st century.
I am now the custodian of some items from the Constabulary days, which I will use in various posts.
IAN SWATRIDGE
P.S I am now very pleased to hear that Dorset Police will again be creating a small museum in its new Force HQ building at Winfrith, which according to the contractor will be completed in Spring 2024.