Watch and Ward
A History of Margate Borough Police 1858 to 1943
by Nigel Cruttenden
"Watch and Ward" is a comprehensive history of Margate Borough Police from its inception in 1858 until its amalgamation into Kent County Constabulary in 1943. It covers the origins of the modern police force, detailing the influence of local councillors, JPs, solicitors and freemasons, as well as central government and world events such as the Boer War and two subsequent world wars.
Alongside its new prosperity, the up-and-coming Victorian seaside resort also had an underbelly watched over by the boys in blue. The borough's residents and visitors encountered issues similar to those of today, ranging from nuisance dogs and speeding vehicles through to mental health, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and assault — even the occasional murder. This book therefore also serves as a social history of East Kent, offering local, social and police historians copious material for research. Whenever an incident occurred in Margate, a policeman would be lurking nearby: a police man, indeed, as there were no warranted female police officers until after amalgamation. Women did however also play an important role within Margate Police, as the book shows.
This is also an invaluable reference work for genealogists or other enthusiasts researching family history in and around Thanet. Family Trees are all very well, but they do not put the flesh on the bones, and even internet searches are quite limited. Full indices make it easy for modern Margatonians and Thanetians to check whether their ancestors might have been 'involved' with the police — on whichever side!
Nigel Cruttenden worked for Kent Police for over forty years, thirty of those as a warranted police officer. This experience taught him to research thoroughly, with painstaking attention to detail, and combined with a long-standing interest in the History of Margate, enabled him to create this rare resource. One of its aims is to remember the forgotten policeman of Margate, and he honestly believes he has found every attested constable who served in the force, including their biographies, pictures, deeds… and misdeeds.
Reviews
"without a doubt this book raises the bar … a well-researched and comprehensive account … not a cheap book, but in terms of value for money, serious students … will not be disappointed … impressive book" (Police History Society)
Book charting every single Margate Borough Police officer published after seven years of research and writing (article in Thanet News)
| Format | Royal Octavo hardback, monochrome |
|---|---|
| Published | 24 September 2022 |
| ISBN | 978-1-915174-03-1 |
| Length | 942 pages (369,000 words) |
| Available | All good booksellers, including Amazon. For other options see our contact page. |
Table of contents
To give an indication of the scope of this mammoth work, here is the table of contents:
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- 1) Introduction
- 2) Founding of the Margate borough police force
- 3) Early comparisons – HM inspections
- 4) Henry Saunders – head constable 1858–1868
- 5) Superintendent Thomas Morant Compton – head constable 1868–1876
- 6) The sudden death of ‘Old Poll’ – the murder of Mary Ann Bridger
- 7) Daniel Shelvey
- 8) Robert Wilcox Romanis – head constable 1876–1883
- 9) George Axel Barnett – Margate’s first police inspector, who became chief constable of Bridgwater
- 10) The great fire of Margate, Friday 27 October 1882
- 11) George Jolliffe – appointment of the first clerk 1884
- 12) Biography of PC George Edward Button
- 13) Biography of George William Lindsay
- 14) The tragic deaths of two metropolitan police officers in 1890 and 1905
- 15) Homelessness and mental health in Margate
- 16) Charles Buck – the first chief constable of Margate 1889–93)
- 17) Alcoholic consequences in January 1893
- 18) Joseph Farndale – chief constable 1893–1897
- 19) Police constable William Sims
- 20) James H. Clegg – chief constable 1897–1902
- 21) Biography of Inspector John Setterfield
- 22) Raid on a disorderly house in Margate, 1898
- 23) Drunken town councillor, 1899
- 24) Forming of the Margate police band, 1899
- 25) Arthur Robert Ellerington – chief constable 1903–1904
- 26) Sergeant James Burren – the first officer to be awarded a merit badge
- 27) Charles Greenstreet – Margate’s first detective sergeant, and the last chief constable of Ryde Police
- 28) Another attempted suicide in 1902; Margate police officers commended
- 29) Strange discovery in Margate – child’s body found in Dane Road
- 30) Daniel Edward Parker – Margate’s first detective inspector
- 31) Police constable John Richard, 1880–1905
- 32) Alfred Appleyard – chief constable 1905–1923
- 33) Albert Victor Sales – Margate borough police force’s ‘first chief constable of Garlinge’
- 34) The first world war – biographies of some of the police officers who served on active service / Biographies of other policemen who served in World War One
- 35) The Margate police on the home front during World War One
- 36) Charles James Haycock, chief constable 1923–30
- 37) Biographies of another seven of Margate’s finest
- 38) William Palmer – the last chief constable of Margate borough police, 1930–1943
- 39) Racism and terrorism
- 40) Preparing for war
- 41) Chief inspector Herbert Bruce Fleet (‘the gentleman copper’ a.k.a. ‘uncle Bruce’)
- 42) Biographies of an inspector, a sergeant, and a constable
- 43) Two bodies in the sea in 1939
- 44) The tragic death of 11-week-old Michael Hogben at Birchington
- 45) Margate police station / The emergency police station
- 46) Uniform and insignia
- 47) Communications / Police boxes
- 48) Transportation / Pedal cycles / Police cars and motorcycles
- 49) Controlling motor vehicles in Margate / Traffic control / Road safety success
- 50) The role of women in the borough police
- 51) First moves in the amalgamation of police forces / War changes everything
- 52) Every man remembered – biographies of every man that served
- Appendix 1) Lists of police officers in specific years
- Appendix 2) The Margate borough police athletic club
- Appendix 3) Charts and statistics
- Bibliography
- Main index
- Names index
- Locations index
- Sources index
List of names
Here is a copy of the over 900 surnames from the Names index, which may be of interest for those interested in genealogy and researching their ancestry or family trees in the Thanet area:
Abbott, Adami, Adams, Addison, Adlington, Admans, Adutt, Akers Douglas, Akers, Aldridge, Allen, Allen/Rolfe, Allison, Allsop, Amos, Anderson, Andrews, Angel, Appleyard, Armes, Armstrong, Arnold, Arthur, Ashbee, Ashby, Ashdown, Ashe, Asprey Dick, Asquith, Attwood, Austen, Avory, Bailey, Bailey-King, Baker, Balaam, Balfour, Ball, Banister, Barber, Barker, Barnes, Barnett, Barratt, Barrett, Barrow, Bartlett, Bastin, Bateman, Bates, Baumann, Bayley, Beacon, Bedingfield, Beeching, Beer, Beerling, Belcher, Bellingham, Belmore, Benham, Bennett, Bentley, Billington, Bines, Bingham, Binnie, Binny Ritchie, Birch, Black, Blackburn, Blackman, Blake, Blakeney, Bloxham, Blundell, Bobby, Bodkin, Bodley, Boler, Bolton, Borg, Boscoe, Boulden, Boulting, Bourne, Bowden, Bowyer, Boys, Bradley, Bramwell, Brasier, Bray, Brealey, Bremner, Brenchley, Bridgeland, Bridger, Bridges, Brighurst, Brisley, Bristed, Brocklehurst, Brockman, Brodie, Brook, Brooke, Brooker, Broomhead, Broughton, Brouvers, Brown, Broxup, Brunger, Bryant, Buck, Buckell, Buddington, Bullard, Bulman, Bunn, Burgess, Burnham, Burren, Burrows, Burton, Bushell, Buss, Butcher, Butler, Butter, Button, Cadby, Camfield, Capel-Slaughter, Capps, Carey, Carpenter, Carr, Carter, Cash, Caspell, Castell, Castle, Catt, Caveler, Chamberlain, Chambers, Chapman, Chappell, Cheeseman, Churchill, Cizzio, Clark, Claxton, Clayson, Clegg, Clements, Clough, Clout, Clynes, Coates, Cobb, Coghlan, Coke, Cole, Coleman, Coleridge, Collie, Collier, Collins, Colmer, Colyer, Compton, Concannon, Cook, Cooke, Cooper, Corbie, Corke, Cornelious, Cornelius, Cornford, Cornhill, Cory, Couper, Covell, Cowie, Cowles Voysey, Cox, Cozens, Craister, Crawford, Crawshaw, Crayford, Creed, Crispe, Cross, Croucher, Crowther, Crump, Crunden, Cullen, Curtice, Curtis, Cutting, Dadds, Daniel, Davey, Davies, Davis, Davison, Day, De Courcy Parry, De la Roche, Deane, Dearing, DeBock, Deedes, Delasaux, Deverson, Dickens, Digby, Dike, Dines, Dinnivan, Dixon, Dobrick, Donohoe, Doorne, Dorman, Doughty, Douglas, Dowland, Drake-Brockman, Drayson, Drury, Druscovich, Duckett, Duckworth, Dunning, Duthie, Dutton, Duxbury, Eason, East, Eastland, Easton, Ede, Eden, Edgecombe, Edwards, Elgar, Elgee, Eliot, Ellenger, Ellerington, Elliot, Elliott, Ellis, Elmore, Elwail, Elwon, Emptage, Epps, Euden, Evans, Everett, Ewell, Fagg, Falconer, Farley, Farmer, Farmery, Farndale, Farnhill, Farrar, Farrier, Fasham, Felix, Fenner, Ferrier, Fiatan, Field, Finch, Finn, Fishwick, Fitzgerald, Fleet, Fletcher, Flower, Folwell, Foord-Kelsey, Forbes Mosse, Ford, Fordred, Foster, Fox, Frampton, Francis, Frankish, Freeborn, Friend, Fright, Fuller, Futter, Galer, Gallop, Garraway, Gavelle, Geering, George, Gibbs, Gibson, Gifford, Giggins, Gilbert, Gilder, Gill, Gilpin, Glynn, Godfree, Godfrey, Goldfinch, Goldsmith, Goldup, Goodale, Goodbun, Gordon, Gore, Gower, Gowthorpe, Graham, Grant, Graves, Gray, Grazebrook, Greasley, Greatorex, Green, Greenop, Greenstead, Greenstreet, Greenwood, Gregory, Grey, Gribble, Griffiths, Groome, Grove, Gurr, Gygax, Hadden, Haddock, Haigh, Hall, Halland, Hambrook, Hams, Hancock, Handcock, Hannam, Hanning, Hanslow, Harcourt, Harlow, Harman, Harnett, Harper, Harrington, Harris, Hart, Hartshorn, Harty, Harvey, Hatchers, Hatfeild, Hatherill, Hawkins, Haycock, Haylett, Hayward, Head, Henderson, Hennan, Henning, Hermitage, Hewett, Hewitt, Hicks, Hickson, Higgins, Highwood, Hill, Hills, Hinde, Hine, Hislock, Hitch, Hitter, Hoare, Hobday, Hocking, Hodges, Hodgman, Hodgson, Hodsoll, Hoffman, Hogan, Hogben, Hogbin, Hogwood, Hohler, Holden, Hollins, Hollis Walker, Holloway, Holman, Holmes, Holness, Holyer, Hopkins, Hopper, Horlock, Horn, Horne, Horsey, Horton, Hosking, Houghton, Houle, How, Howard, Howat, Hubbard, Huber, Huckstep, Hudson, Huggins, Hughes, Humphreys, Hunt, Hunter, Hursell, Hyde, Hyder, Ibbetson, Iles, Impett, Ind, Ingmire, Isaacson, Issott, Ivers, Jackson, Jamieson, Jarman, Jarrett, Jarvis, Jenkins, Jewell, Jezzard, John, Johnson, Jolliffe, Jones, Jones-Lane, Jordan, Jury, Kane, Keble, Keeble, Keen, Kemp, Kempe, Kendal, Kendrick, Kennett, Kenny, Kevis, Kew, Kewell, Kimber, Kimpton, King, Kingsford, Kingston, Kirby, Kirkbright, Kitchingham, Klaus, Knight, Kurasch, Ladd, Lambert, Lancer, Lanchberry, Land, Lane Sear, Langer, Lanton, Larkins, Lashmar, Latham, Latter, Lauder, Lawrence, Leach Lewis, Lee, Leetham, Lemar, Lepper, Lester, Lewis, Lieberman, Lilliot, Lilly, Lindsay, Linnington, Livick, Lloyd, Lockyer, Long, Longley, Love, Luck, Luckhurst, Lunn, Macer, Macfarlane, Macfayden, Mackenzie, Mackie, Maddison, Maddocks, Maitland, Maloy, Maltby, Manisty, Mannings, Manser, Mansfield, Marchant, Markey, Marras, Martin, Marwood, Maskell, Maskelyne, Mason, Masters, Mathias, Matthews, Maughan, Maxted, Maxwell, May, Maynard, Mayne, McCabe, McCarthy, McComb, McCormack, McDiarmid, McEvoy, McGratty, Mercer, Middleton, Miles, Miller, Millgate, Mills, Minter, Mirams, Mitchell, Moon, Moore, Morcom, Morgan, Morphy, Morris, Morrison, Morrow, Mosley, Moss, Mourilyan, Mouser, Moyler, Mulder, Munday, Munns, Nairne, Neale, Neilson, Neve, Newlyn, Niblett, Nichol, Nicholson, Noakes, Noble, Nockels, Norman, Norris, O’Connor, O’Rourke, Offen, Olsen, Orchin, Orme, Osborne, Ovenden, Overbury, Overton, Overy, Oxley, Packman, Padget, Padgett, Padley, Page, Palmer, Pamphlet, Panoptes, Pantony, Paramor, Parker, Parkes Dorothy, Parks, Parley, Parrett, Parry, Pasker, Patching, Pattenden, Pawley, Pay, Payn, Payne, Peachey, Peacock, Peall, Pearce, Pearlman, Peel, Pellat, Pemberton, Penfold, Perkins, Perry, Peto, Pettman, Petts, Philips, Philpot, Philpott, Phipps, Pickering, Pightling, Pilcher, Pindar, Pinkney, Pittock, Pointer, Pointon, Pole, Poole, Porter, Potter, Poulton, Powell, Presland, Price, Pring, Prosser, Puddephant, Purton, Pyle, Ralph, Randall, Ranner, Rapson, Rasey, Raymond, Redman, Reeve, Reid, Reynolds, Rhodes, Richardson, Riches, Richford, Ridnell, Ridsdale, Rigden, Robbins, Roberts, Robinson, Rogers, Rolfe, Romanis, Rook, Rookley, Roper, Rosher, Ross, Rowan, Rowden, Rowe, Rowell, Rowlinson, Royle, Rusholme, Russell, Saddleton, Sales, Sandell, Sandwell, Sankey, Saunders, Savery, Saxby, Sayer, Scatliff, Schiller, Scholes, Scott, Scrutton, Scutt, Sear, Selfe, Setterfield, Sharp, Sharpe, Shaw, Shea, Sheaff, Sheldon, Shelvey, Shepherd, Sheridan, Shinn, Shrubsole, Sicklemore, Silani, Sillitoe, Simmons, Sims, Sinclair, Sixsmith, Skellet, Skey, Skinner, Slavin, Smart, Smith, Smyth, Smythe Emery, Snelling, Sokel, Solly, Somes, Spain, Spencer, Spicer, Spilsbury, Spong, Spray, Stace, Stancomb-Wills, Standring, Stanley, Starling, Start, Stead, Steadman, Steele, Stevens, Stewart, Stiff, Still, Stirrup, Stock, Stockbridge, Stokes, Stone, Stoneham, Stoney, Stowe, Strand, Strangroom, Stroud, Sturgess, Sturton, Summer, Summerfield, Sutherland, Sutton, Swain, Swendell, Swinford, Tannenbaum, Tappenden, Targett, Tatham, Tawes, Taylor, Tebay, Telfer, Terrell, Terry, Testa, Thompson, Thorn Drury, Thornton Bobby, Thornton, Thorpe, Tiltman, Tinson, Tolhurst, Toole, Towne, Townsend, Toyne, Treves, Tribe, Trimmer, Troughton, Trusler, Tucker, Turner, Turney, Turrell, Twyman, Tyler, Tyrwhitt Drake, Uden, Underdown, Upton, Valpy, Vance, Vanhear, Vann, Varnham, Venis, Verrall, Verralls, Wakerley, Wakerly, Walker, Wallace, Wallinger, Wallis, Walters, Wanstall, Ward, Warde, Warner, Warren, Watling, Watson, Waud, Weale, Webber, Weeks, Weigall, Weir Rhodes, Wellard, Wellington, Wells, Wenham, West, Whales, White Ridley, White, Whitehead, Whiteley, Whiting, Whitnell, Whitton, Whybourn, Wiggins, Wiles, Wilkie, Wilkinson, Williams, Willis, Willmott, Wilson Price, Wilson, Witcombe, Witts, Wood, Woodford, Woodward, Woolls, Wootton, Worsley, Worth, Wren, Wright, Yates, Young.