The photograph above, has no more information other than what is appended beneath it, and is from page 30 of Melvin HANN’S book, Bobbies on the beat, 150 years of Dorset Constabulary. The book can be picked up quite cheaply on ebay and large on line book stores.
Thanks again Melvin , who not only gave me permission to use it, but I must also mention, that Melvin did not have no where near as much time as me, to study and work out the age of some of the past photographs in his book . In fact I have already had about 10 times the amount of time he did. Considering he only had about a year to put the book together, he did a wonderful job.
This photograph was also one of the original photographs that I was left my grandfather Vic. I have always wondered who they were and would I be able to name them, and that is the point of this post.
There was nothing written on my copy of the photograph, no names or dates, just the photographers name in the bottom corner, C HUDSON, Dorchester, so the only obvious clue.
There is not a great deal of information on Charles HUDSON but he was a photographer in Dorchester from at least 1896. He was born in London and his wife Clara came from Manchester. His Daughter Esther Clara HUDSON was born in Dorchester in the winter of 1896 and the earliest report of him being in Dorchester is in January 1896.
HUDSON also took this photograph of the Constabulary Tug of War team in December 1897, which appears to be at the rear of HQ at Dorchester. The officer with the straw boater looks a bit like Dennis GRANVILLE, but it cannot be as this was 4 months before he took over. More information on this photograph can be found in my post about the Constabulary Athletics Club.,
In the “Southern Times” newspaper, on 21st January 1899 it printed,
Charles HUDSON, photographer of Dorchester, presented 4 photographs which he took at the back of the premises on 10th Dec 1898, being in company with Police Sergeant RICKETTS. This was in a case at the Winter Assize where William LUMLEY, 27 years, a confectioner of Portland was given 5 years for shooting 5 bullets from a revolver at his brother in law William SCRIVEN, a butcher at Weston on 7th December.
In the 1901 Census he is shown as living at 12 Victoria Road, Dorchester with his family, and I believe he lived there for at least another 12 years. He also seems to rent a studio for his work at 16 Cornhill.
So the photograph was more than likely taken after 1895, which is not a great help !
Captain Dennis GRANVILLE, became Chief Constable of the Dorset Constabulary, on 5th March 1898, so if it is him, then it is not before then. If it is Dennis GRANVILLE, in initial photograph, then he must be central figure without any head dress ( cap/helmet etc ). Dennis was Chief Constable till he retired in 1924. So that narrows it down to 26 years, again not much help !
When he took over as Chief Constable, he was coming up to 35 years old, so he certainly looks young enough to be around that age, so maybe this is his first photograph with some of his Constabulary. He is dressed in clothes not associated with a Chief Constable, so again that makes me think he has just joined. So that is where I am starting, it is a photograph to celebrate the new Chief Constable.
Here is my copy, also split in two for a bit more definition. But still not enough unless you have something to magnify it.
Ok, so if I am right the photograph will have been taken circa April 1898.
So where was it taken ? Well the brick wall background does not really help but based on the photographer and the fact the C/C would have been at Dorchester, then it must be within the HQ yard.
Let’s think about the logistics of arranging this photograph.
Even in our day and age it would be not practical to get the whole Force together for a photograph, as there always has to be, at least a skeleton staff around to cover different areas.
In 1898 most officers were still on foot but some had bicycles, in fact around this year, 41 officers had bought their own bikes and HQ had the use of another 10. Six of those bikes at HQ had “cushioned tyres”, rather than the solid rubber ones. Superintendents and Inspectors in charge of the 9 divisions, would all have had a horse and cart so it would make sense that all the officers in this photograph were based in Dorchester or nearby. Telephones were still not installed in the stations. So logically, it is possibly officers in the Dorchester Division.
In 1898 when Dennis GRANVILLE took over, there were 174 officers under him.
DCC X 1
SUPT’S X 7
INSPS X 3
SGT MAJOR X 1
SGTS X 22
PCS X 140
So the photograph has approximately a 6th of the Constabulary in it, again logical it could be just the largest division, which was Dorchester.
In this photograph there are 32 officers, obviously from their uniforms:
A Supt, a Sgt Major, 5 Sgts, an acting Sgt and 23 Constables. That means there must be some officers from HQ also. There were 4 Sgts,in the Dorchester Division, 2 at Dorchester, one at Broadwey and one at Portland, the latter was a senior Sgt’s post, before the port was expanding, but not yet big enough to have a Supt in charge.
The Sgt Major and the Admin Sgt, also appear to be in the photograph as there is an extra Sgt, but not the Admin Supt, and at this point I am not sure if the Admin PC is there.
So if this photograph was taken about April 1898, the Sgt Major was Benjamin CARRUTHERS, who was employed from 1890 – 25/11/1899.
Ammendment: 18012021, I now know the Sgt Major was part of the Dorchester Division as that changed to HQ IN 1899.
The Admin Sgt, William BOWLES held his position from 24/12/1897 – 25/11/1899 when he became the Sgt Major.
Ben CARRUTHERS (above), with his military medal, is sat next to the Chief Constable and Sgt BOWLES is lying in front of them, if you look close enough, you can see he has the number 11 on his helmet which also identifies him. The badge, because he is a Sgt, also has the letter S above the number.
Examples of a Constables helmet badge followed by the centre of a Sgt’s helmet badge.
The 2nd most important and senior officer in the photograph was the Superintendent , sat to the left of the Chief Constable. If it is the Dorchester Division Supt, then it has to be George BURDEN. He was the Supt from 7/9/1897 till he retired in 1905. Superintendent shown below.
All the Sgts in the photograph can be identified from the white piping around their collars.
The next partial photograph, showing “Little and Large” are educated guesses.
The “large” Sgt, must be William GROVES from Dorchester, I am basing that on the fact that Sgt GROVES was always the anchor man on the Constabulary Tug of War team and I know of the 22 Sgts, his Sgt number was 9, and magnifying his helmet, you can see he has a single number which is probably 9!
As I mentioned earlier there are 22 Sgt’s in the Force at this time, and obviously only 9 of them have single figure Force numbers. So it’s a 1 in 9 chance.
The “little” Sgt, is more than likely to be, Sgt 15 Albert KING who was the Sgt at Broadwey and later went on to be a Supt.
If you look back at the earlier Tug of War team from 1897, you can see Sgt GROVES standing at the rear, 3rd from the left. So above in this partial photo, he looks like he has put on a few pounds for the teams sake and their winning habit.
That leaves the 2 other Sgts, one would be stationed and in charge at Portland and the other at Dorchester. Then there was an acting Sgt at Maiden Newton. Below, are the 3 suspects.
Sat on the left should be Sgt 18 William KIMBER of Dorchester, sat next to him is Sgt 4 Ambrose RICKETTS of Portland, who later was also a Supt and lying down on the rug, is acting Sgt 46 George BUTSON from Maiden Newton, without any collar piping.
Here is a better photo of the Admin Sgt, William BOWLES, and his identity is also proved by his military medal, not just his helmet badge number. BOWLES was in the Army before the police and his Sgt’s number was 11.
When he was in the Army, he was given the “India Medal” for conflict in Hazara in 1888. The clasp was given for conflict in the Black Mountains between 1st and 13th Oct 1888. At that time he was a Corporal and his regimental number was 35486.
At this point I think we should look at their uniforms.
All the officers in uniform have the same belts, so that is no help.
All the constables have the same helmets, all of which have numbers on, the badge would have numbers from 1 – 140, however few can be made out.
All the constables breast plate badges would be the same, at least some can be read
Arm markings are very important. This can tell us what class they are and show up other qualifications. So some officers are first class, others 2nd class, some have a merit and some have St John Ambulances badges.
Now for the VERY HARD bit, of identifying the Constables. If you know their faces or their numbers, which of course would help if their numbers are visible and legible then it is easy, however I only recognise one by face and most of the breast plate numbers are either hidden, partially hidden or are not legible.
The one I can identify by his looks in the rear row, 6th along, is George HELYAR, PC 74. George was a 1st class PC at Osmington at the time. George is shown below.
This is a local map from 1897, although just to get a concentrated picture I have left out the Portland area of the Dorchester Division. This area should include all the beats in the division other than Portland. Just north of the map is the nearest divisional area, which was Cerne, with the Supt or Insp at Cerne Abbas.
The Dorchester Divisional beats for constables in 1898 comprised of the following locations:
Abbotsbury , Puddletown, Upwey, Winterborne Abbas, Piddletrenthide, Chickerell, Broadmayne, Frampton, Osmington, Charminster, Abbotsbury, Toller, Dorchester x 4 Portland x 4, Wyke Regis x 2 so that is 22 in total.
There are 23 in the photograph, so maybe it is all of the constables in the Dorchester Division plus the Admin PC.
With some magnification some Constables numbers over their left breasts are legible, but most are not.
Those that I can be sure of are at this point and their beats are:
Rear row:
6th PC 74 George HELYAR (Osmington)
Second Row:
4th PC 103 Harry BAULCH ( Charminster)
6th PC 14 Joseph MOORE ( Abbotsbury)
Harry BAULCH above and Joseph MOORE below.
In the 3rd row, I can identify by their breast badges:
5th PC 73 Charles LIGHT (Cerne)
6th PC 129 William POND (Piddlehinton)
7th PC 50 Thomas CARTER (Winterborne Abbas)
Photographs in order below.
The fact that PC 73 Charles LIGHT is in the photograph, ruins my theory that it is just the constables from the Dorchester Division. Now I have to consider why he is there and are there others from outside the Dorchester Division. Hopefully he is the exception to my rule !
I believe the photograph must be taken after the last week in April 1898 when several changes took place.
Acting Sgt Tom LIGHT was moved from Puddletown out of the division to Branksome. PC 90 James STOCKLEY took over Puddletown and PC 103 Harry BAULCH took over Charminster. So STOCKLEY must also be in the photo. Puddletown was a good posting, because if you kept your nose clean you next posting would mean you were promoted to Sgt.
I am not 100 per cent sure who is PC 90 James STOCKLEY, but it is probably the constable 5th from the left in the second row standing. So the constable shown far right below, to the right of Harry BAULCH. I am basing this on other photographs of him, shown below.
Photo of the tug of war team at the rear far right and STOCKLEY from about 6 months before in 1897 and a close up. STOCKLEY was 5 feet 9 inches tall. The third photo is from early 1915.
Evershot, was another senior constables posting, HOWEVER it was in the Cerne Division, not the Dorchester Division. But just like Charles LIGHT, PC Arthur RICHARDSON could also be in the photo.
PC 94 Arthur RICHARDSON, took over from Frank BEST on 21st Feb 1898. He had 3 years service and is also in the Tug of War team above, 2nd Left at rear.
After also coming across a later photo of him on the Ancestry site, Arthur looks like first constable on the rear row. He is about the right age, but I have doubts, as in the Tug of Was photo he was described as 6 ft 2 inches and the tallest in the team.
So, if he is 6 ft 2 inches, what height are the two strapping lads in the middle of the rear row of our photo ?
Anyway until I can prove otherwise this is a good guess. Closer up photos of Arthur below as well.
Upwey, was also a prime posting and 1st class, merit PC 63 Frank BISHOP who was stationed there from before May 1897 and was still there till promoted on 5th Oct 1902.
Broadmayne , another 1st class PC’s posting was the beat of PC 16 Alfred FARLEY who took over in Jan 1898.
Chickerell’s 1st class PC was PC 104 William CROSS, who was there before June 1896 and was until moved on 28th Oct 1898. My great grandfather took over then and is not in this photograph so it must be before then.
So now, I have narrowed the photo down to 6 months, as so far, I know it was taken between the last week in April 1898 and 28 Oct 1898.
Other 1st class postings that were near Dorchester were:
Wyke Regis, where PC 12 Henry ELLIOTT served until at least Jun 1899.
Puncknowle, where PC 69 William FREAK was stationed. He is not in the photo though as I know what he looks like.
Dorchester, where PC 72 Alfred PRIDE who was a PC there from, 3rd Dec 1892 to 11 Sep 1900. His family photograph in about 1907 is in Melvin HANN’s book, shown below.
So I believe Alfred PRIDE is in the rear row 5th from left, show above.
I have seen several photographs of constable Reginald KENT, because he seemed to follow my great grandfathers career and was also in later Tug of War teams. Reg started his career around April 1898, but exact date not known. In the June general orders his first posting was Dorchester so he could be in the photograph. The PC that looks the youngest in the rear row far right has very similar features and I pretty sure it is Reg. His breast plate number also seems to start with a 1 and then maybe another 1. His number was 119. Photo also added below of what Reg looked like, probably from just before he joined up.
Another recruit who joined with Reg KENT was, PC 8 Henry John HEWLITT, he was also posted to Dorchester, so should also be in this photograph. They replaced PC’s 36 MEECH and another. PC 23 HAINS was replaced by PC 80 James SIMS who went to HQ as Junior Clerk, so could also be in photo.
In February 1898 a young officer PC 19 Walter BOWN, was posted to Dorchester, so is also likely to be in this photograph. I cannot see any young officer with the badge number 19 but the constable in the rear row, 2nd left would appear to be him. Photograph first from a photo in 1913 when at Portland as a Sgt, Sitting down. Then our photo 15 years earlier, where he is standing at the back.
There are two officers that should also be in this photograph are:
PC 12 Henry ELLIOTT who was 1st class constable at WYKE REGIS who had 13 years service, and 1st class PC16 Albert FARLEY who was at BROADMAYNE who has 10 years in. Looking at the below part of the photograph shows two officers with similar numbers. End left, possibly PC ELLIOTT, as it looks like a 12 on his breast and 3rd along possibly 16 PC FARLEY.
Ammendment January 2022. I have now been in touch with the grandson of PC Alfred FARLEY and we have confirmed PC 16 is Alfred FARLEY. Below is a photograph of him at Thorncome which Jeff FARLEY believes was taken before his grandfathers retirement in 1913.
There are 3 officers with numbers that look like they are in the 60’s
Officers it could be are:
PC 63 Frank BISHOP, 29 years old. Upwey
PC 67 Joseph SYMES, 25 years old. Dorchester Borough man who had recently been the Dorchester reserve man. I am not actually sure what that means , but they may have had an extra officer with no posting who would be the next to be posted when a vacancy appeared. In other words when an officer was fired, they did not need to employ one and then have to spend at least 3 weeks waiting to fill the vacancy. Logical if affordable ! Joe SYMES is more than likely the officer stood far right with no braiding on his arm, showing he is very new.
The officer with the very hairy chops , above him, top middle seems to have the number 63. I have no doubt it is Frank BISHOP, because of his eyes and also you look closely you can just see a merit ‘loop’ on his left arm.
The farther into this post I get, the more it becomes educated guess work.
I do not like that, but sometimes you get unexpected results from guess work and it is a risk worth taking.
The two officers in the below partial photo look to be very experienced ( also known as old, compared to most of the others).
In this day and age they are obviously older than we would compare to our times, as they had a bloody hard life compared to us. No rest days, on your feet all day, trying to not be caught in the local pub by your supervisors.
In my list of possible officers in the area there is PC 48 Joseph PEARCE at Toller. He is the only one of my suspects that has a 40 – 49 number and the officer on the far left, middle row seems to have a 40 plus number. Joseph by the way would have been 44 years old and been married for 20 years so looks around that age to me.
Looking at his arms, he has no braiding which is unusual for his time in the Force, compare him to the officer next to him who could even be more experienced ! He has braiding with loops and a rounded ending number on his breast badge.
Not sure who this is as the only likely one is but PC 104 William STONE, would fit the bill as he is 37 or 38 years old and is 1st class. The officers arms also show the merit loop as well.
*** check out him and wm cross 104 and fred harvey 121 ***
The above helmet badge plate may well have been William CROSS’s and in the photograph.
The two PC’s below in the centre, look quite similar in age and looks. The one on the left looks to have a 6 number at the end of his breast plate and the officer on the right looks to have a 5 number.
The only officers with numbers ending in those numbers in the Dorchester Division were:
PC 86 Albert TUDGAY of Wyke Regis, 25 years old.
PC 85 James SCOTT of Portland who was 26 years old.
So it could be them.
The next partial photo below shows a young officer with a breast plate number starting 5. There are two officers in the Dorchester Division starting with 5 at this time:
PC 54 Albert SQUIRES who was 26 years old. He was a 1st class and merit officer.
PC 57 Fred ARNOLD who was 28 years old.
Both based at Portland.
Based on the age he looks and that his breast plate number looks more like 54 than 57, I think it is SQUIRES. If his arms were showing there might be the embroidering of a 1st and merit class PC but they are hidden.
Now for the big lads at the back, shown below. Well I cannot see any numbers, or their arms, so some even bigger guess work going on here.
l I think one of them is PC 57 Fred Henry ARNOLD as my grandfather pointed out that Fred’s son Albert Enos ARNOLD was a very tall constable. My grandfather and Albert worked together at Dorchester in 1923/4. So, this is my long shot, surely Fred would have been very tall as well !
So here is the latest update:
Lying down on the rug:
1: PC 46 (1c) George BUTSON Maiden Newton A/SGT
2: Sgt 11 (2c ) William BOWLES HQ Training Sgt
Front row sitting:
1: Sgt 18 (2c) William KIMBER Dorchester
2: Sgt 4 (1c) Ambrose RICKETTS Portland
3: Supt ( ?) George BURDEN Dorchester
4: Chief Constable Dennis GRANVILLE HQ
5: Sgt Major Benjamin CARRUTHERS HQ
6: Sgt 9 (1c) William GROVES Dorchester
7: Sgt 15 (2c) Albert KING Broadwey
First row standing (middle row):
1: PC 48 ( ? ) Joseph PEARCE Toller
2: PC 104 (1cm) William CROSS Chickerell
3: PC 86 ( 2c) Albert TUDGAY Wyke Regis
4: PC 85 (2c) James SCOTT Portland
5: PC 73 (1c) Charles LIGHT Cerne
6: PC 129 ( ? ) William POND Piddlehinton
7: PC 50 (1cm) Thomas CARTER Winterborne Abbas
8: PC 67 ( 2c) Joseph SYMES Dorchester
Second row standing:
1: PC 12 (1c) Henry ELLIOTT Wyke Regis
2: PC 108 (1c) Herbert VACHER Dorchester
3: PC 16 (1c) Alfred FARLEY Broadmayne
4: PC 103 (2c) Harry BAULCH Charminster
5: PC 90 (2c) James STOCKLEY Puddletown
6: PC 14 (1cm) Joseph MOORE Abottsbury
7: PC 54 (1cm) Albert SQUIRES Portland
8: PC 63 (1cm) Frank BISHOP Upwey
Rear row:
1: PC 94 (2c) Albert RICHARDSON Evershot
2: PC 19 (2c) Walter BOWN Dorchester
3: PC ?
4: PC ?
( one of these is poss PC 57 Fred ARNOLD Portland
5: PC 72 (1cm) Alfred PRIDE Dorchester
6: PC 74 (1c) George HELYAR Osmington
7: PC 119 (2c) Reginald KENT Dorchester
(1cm) means 1st class PC with merit
(1c) means 1st class PC
(2c) means 2nd class PC
So if my guessing has been correct, then only one of the big lads at the back has not been named. So who could it be, well here are the possibilities.
PC 121 Fred HARVEY Frampton 02/01/1892 – 20/01/1900 39 yrs
PC 102 Mark PARK Portland 09/1986 – 1899 22
PC 13 Ben FRY Portland 14/05/1898 – 20
PC 80 James SIMS HQ Admin 16/04/1898 – 25/11/1899 26
PC 8 Henry HEWITT Dorchester 16/04/1898 – 16/08/1898 24/25