FAQ

FAQs

 1) What information does the database on this site contain?

The database on this site contains a basic person search facility that can be used to see if we hold any information on a person of interest.  If the search is successful then further information may be available in our larger offline database which holds the following:

Some of the (Parish) Constables and Watchmen of Worcestershire County and Boroughs (before and after the creation of the Worcestershire Constabulary).

 Officers and other information from the following forces:

• • Worcester City Police (1833-1967)

  • Borough of Evesham (1836-1850)

  • Borough of Kidderminster Police (1835-1947)

  • Dudley Borough Police (1845-1920)

  • Dudley Borough Police (1920-1966) 

  • (We are currently seeking any information about this independent force and its members between 1920 and 1966)

  • Bewdley Borough Police (1836-1882)

  • Droitwich Borough Police (1836-1881)

There is also limited information on other roles that support and have supported these forces such as Special Constables, Police Cadets, Police War Reserves, Women's Auxiliary Police Corps (WAPC) and Police Auxiliary Messenger Service (PAMS) etc

Worcestershire Constabulary including the following Divisions (1839-1967):

• Worcester (excluding City Centre)

• Malvern and Upton

• Pershore (later to include Evesham)

• Hundred House (Stourport, Witley, Tenbury)

• Bromsgrove and Redditch (later to include Droitwich)

• Stourbridge and Halesowen (absorbed into West Midlands Police Force 1974)

• Kings Heath/Northfield (absorbed into Birmingham Police Force 1911)

• Oldbury (absorbed into West Midlands Constabulary 1966)

• Shipston on Stour and Blockley (1845 to 1931)

Please note: the above list is only a guide to what is on the database, this is due to County boundaries and responsibilities changing over the 130 years the force was in existence and many border villages/towns dipped in and out of the county. 

2) What information could I expect to receive?

• • Transcribed official police records including personal details, postings, family details etc

  • Transcribed official documents eg Police Committees

  • Transcribed census records

  • Transcribed newspaper articles

  • Transcribed Historical Directories information

  • Photographs

3) Will I get all this information?

Unfortunately not necessarily, it all depends on where, when and how long your ancestor served.  The richest period of information is from the 1860s to the 1950s, before this the information can be patchy due to a lack of source material.  From the 1950s onwards we are limited to what information we have managed to gather (as much of this information is still held by West Mercia Police) and what we can release.  Finally from the 1900s, if your ancestor was in the force for a number of years there is a good chance we will have a photograph.

4) I've searched your online database but can't find a result and I'm positive my ancestor was involved in a Worcestershire force?

Do get in touch.  We are constantly adding to the database all the time so may still be working on your ancestor's records alternately we are aware that the official records have accidentally omitted records of officers.

5) Where does the information come from?

The information comes from a variety of sources including personal interviews with former officers or family members, public documents and records, police records, censuses and family records.

6) Do you have the original documents used to create the database?

In short, no.  We have seen at some point during our research many original documents but these are often stored in museums or archives (some not easily accessible to the public).  Many held by West Mercia Police have subsequently been passed to the Worcestershire archives. The documents cover the 19th and 20th centuries and include both information on the organisation of the police, their buildings and personnel and also their approaches to crime, its prevention and punishment.  Within the collection is a series of descriptive registers for Worcestershire Constabulary from 1839 to 1953.  Some of these registers are detailed and describe all aspects of a police officer's service.  According to J. Golby in his book "Communities and Families" the records held are some of the most detailed surviving.  As stated in a previous answer, although there is some fantastic detail within the collection, please note that some time periods have far more information than others.  Within our records we have used multiple sources to piece together some of the records for officers.  Also in the 1950's the Worcestershire force moved fully to individual files for officers rather than writing in bound registers and these files are still held by West Mercia Police and access is restricted.  Furthermore, we haven't found detailed information for the smaller forces within Worcestershire.   For Worcester City we began with Colin Glover's "A History of Worcester City Police 1833-1967" which contains almost a complete list of Worcester City Police officers including most start and end dates.  We believe this information was likely produced from original ledgers/documents when it was compiled in 1967 but unfortunately have disappeared in the intervening years.  Similarly we have found no original records for the first 35 years of the Kidderminster Borough Police force and in both cases gaps are being filled from newspaper articles, Watch Committee Minutes and any other documentation we find.

7. Are any books available on the above forces?

Please click here to go to the relevant section