INTRODUCTION

The archives of the police forces of England:country-region> and Wales:country-region> are a little known source. They have been used on a few occasions by the authors of individual force histories, but such histories have invariably been written to celebrate particular events, such as an amalgamation or a centenary, and they have rarely had a wide circulation. A few of the academic historians who, during the last two decades, have turned their attention increasingly to questions of crime, police and policing, have consulted isolated archives if they have been fortunate enough to find them. None of the general histories of the English police service have consulted them. Clearly these archives are of immense value to historians of crime and policing, but they have a much wider value. The documents listed below contain a wealth of information on the ordering and control of urban and rural life from the mid-nineteenth century, on the supervision of strikes and protest marches, the treatment of aliens, the impact of twentieth-century total war, and much more which, like the foregoing, have been central to recent research in English socialhistory.

The lack of knowledge about these archives, and the consequent failure to use them, has had two unfortunate results. First, with respect to the general history of the English police, it has contributed to the assumption that the provincial forces were largely clones of the Metropolitan Police, which was not the case. Secondly, and perhaps more seriously, it has meant that the archives have often been neglected and vast amounts of material has been destroyed or taken to decorate someone's bookshelf; unfortunately while the work for this guide was in preparation at least one attractive leather-bound volume disappeared, and probably for the latter reason. Matters are gradually improving. There is a growing awareness of the importance of these archives within the police service; during our research for this guide several forces launched trawls of old police buildings which yielded some additional and interesting material, and there still appear to be one or two caches of documents which,, for a variety of reasons, it was impossible to visit and catalogue. A few forces have handed their archives over to their local county record office. Some have created museums for the archives and artifacts in their care, and in these instances it is usually possible for the bona fide researcher to consult any documentation in the museum. But in a few instances the responsibility for the archives still rests in the hands of the officer who is 'interested in history'. Overall the chief constables still have neither a policy on their archives nor on what to preserve for the future.

The guide which follows is listed alphabetically under the current names of the police forces of England:country-region> and Wales:country-region>. It includes the surviving archives of the British Transport Police as well as those archives of the Metropolitan Police which have not been deposited at the Public Record Office at Kew but which are intended to be stored in the force's proposed museum. Forces which no longer exist are listed under the heading of the current force which covers their old 'patch'; thus the archives of the Huntindonshire Constabulary are to be found under Cambridgeshire, those of Worcestershire under West Mercia, and so on. The records of the pre-amalgamation forces have been separated out and classified under separate headings; but this has not always been possible for the smallest forces or those for whom scant documentation survives, and here we have opted for a simple chronological order. Any reference numbers given to documents are included within the listing.

The archives are ordered here under the following headings:

1. Administrative. Annual Reports Organisation Finance Reorganisation

2. Crime

Crime Registers

Prisoners

Photo Albums

3. Force Instructions

General Orders

Memoranda (Note that the Memoranda of chief

constables are often little different from force orders).

4. Station Journals

Occurrence Books

Lost and Found

Pocket Books and Beat Books

5. Personnel

Registers

Rolls

Discipline

6. Watch Committee and Standing Joint Committee

Minute Books

Chief Constable's reports

7. Miscellaneous

Special Constables, etc.

Records within these divisions are in rough chronological order, but in some instances logic has dictated that allied material be grouped together regardless of chronology.

While the following list contains the addresses of the different archives and the names of the officers or civilians currently responsible for them, it is recommended that anyone wishing to consult any of the documentation listed here should write first to the appropriate chief constable.     

We owe a debt of gratitude to a variety of individuals and organisations for their assistance in the preparation of this guide., First; of course, to the chief constables who allowed us to.. consult and catalogue the archives in their care and to the officers and civilians responsible for the supervision: of the. documents, who always made us welcome and provided us with both assistance and hospitality. We would like to thank the Police History Society for their encouragement and interest, and for the occasional letter which smoothed our path. Last, but by no means least, our thanks are due to the Economic and Social Research Council and to the Research Committee of the Open University for the funding which made this project possible.

Milton Keynes

Ian Bridgeman

Clive Emsley

June 1989

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