Help is needed by Paul Davies. (Please contact via the Secretary)

The following are direct ancestors of mine who lived in your area. The one/ones of particular interest is John Jonas who was the Superintendent of Police for Pickering Lythe Division from the inception of the North Riding Constabulary in 1856 until 1878.

THE POLICE CAREER OF JOHN JONAS

In the early 1800s Britain did not have a professional Police Force so in 1829 the Metropolitan Police Act was passed which provided permanently appointed and paid Constables.
These men became the model for the creation of all the provincial forces; at first in the London Boroughs, and then into the counties and towns, after the passing of the 1839 Rural Constabulary Act which permitted Justices to appoint Chief Constables for the direction of the police in their areas and allowed for one policeman per 1,000 population. It gave shire counties like Essex the opportunity to establish their own full-time police forces if they chose to do so. Essex was not the first county force to be formed, but was certainly one of the earliest, following Worcestershire, Wiltshire, Gloucester and Durham.
The first recruits to the Essex Constabulary in February 1840 had to meet certain standards: Under 40 years of age, to stand 5’7” (1.45 M) without shoes, to read and write and to keep accounts, to be free from bodily complaint, of strong constitution and generally intelligent. The applicant was also required to provide a certificate of character from one or more respectable persons who had personal knowledge of him during the last 5 years that he was “sober, honest and of good temper, that his connections and associates were respectable.” If he was passed “fit for police duties” by the police surgeon, the applicant was then sworn in as a constable before the magistrates at Shire Hall in Chelmsford.
Initially 100 Constables receiving a salary of 19 shillings (95p) per week and 15 Superintendents, paid £80 per year, were appointed whilst the Chief Constable warranted a salary of £400. It was not until the October of 1840 that the rank of Inspector was introduced and a further 15 years before Sergeants appeared.
Constables were provided with a basic uniform, which included a blue dress coat with embroidered collar, dress trousers, ‘undress’ trousers, waterproofed greatcoat, cape, pair of boots, pair of shoes and a black stove pipe hat (it was not until the 1870s that the familiar helmet was adopted). In addition the constable was issued with a rattle (to raise the alarm), truncheon and a pair of handcuffs. Constables were also required to supply themselves with 2 pairs of white drill trousers which were to be worn “…whenever the Superintendent may direct, between 1 May and 1 October.”
The force purchased a number of cutlasses for use by constables but only if two magistrates certified that it was necessary for the officer’s personal protection in the performance of his duty. The cutlasses could only be worn at night time or when rioting or serious public disorder was taking place.
From the outset stress was laid upon securing the goodwill and co-operation of those living in areas where the police had to operate. An early instruction stated “Constables are always to take the outside of the footpath, and when walking along the streets should not shoulder past respectable people but give way in a mild manner, for the more respectful and civil the Constabulary are, the more they will be supported and respected by the public.”
Constables worked long hours, often under difficult conditions. The average working day, performed seven days a week, consisted of three or four hours in the daytime followed by a night shift between 10pm and dawn.
All patrols were on foot and it was not uncommon for a constable on a rural beat to walk over 20 miles each day. Horse patrols were avoided where possible, except for supervisory purposes, since the Chief Constable considered them “most inefficient in the detection of crimes; the very noise of a horse’s feet upon the road will disturb a depredator, and he will conceal himself, it is a beacon for him to avoid.” A horse and cart was however provided in every division for the conveyance of prisoners and the use of constables who were being posted.
Attendance at “Divine Worship” was also encouraged by the Chief Constable “duties would be so arranged as to allow the attendance of the Constabulary at Divine Service, and Constables are expected to show an example of due respect for the observance of the Sabbath day.”
There were no refreshment breaks and it was left to the ingenuity of the constable to obtain refreshment where he could – often in a beer or public house. This led to high incidents of drunkenness amongst police officers, resulting in many dismissals from the force. By the end of 1840 some 40 men had been dismissed from the force, many for drunkenness.
If the constable hadn’t enough to do he could also be given a variety of other tasks such as Inspector of Weights and Measures, Nuisances or Common Lodging Houses, Assistant to H.M. Revenue Officers, Relieving Officers for Casuals under the Poor Law, Inspectors under the Explosives Acts and many others.
A superannuation scheme was introduced from the outset, but a pension was not granted as an automatic right; only men recommended by the Chief Constable and approved by the Justices received one. After 15-20 years’
service an officer was entitled to a half-pay pension; a two thirds pension being received after 20 or more years’ service.
John Jonas, whose occupation was cordwainer, or shoemaker, joined Essex Constabulary on 22/4/1842 (probably aged 22) although there is no record of where he was based and when until 1851 when the Census shows that he was living in Sible Hedingham. Later that year he was involved in an incident which is the subject of a short history from the Essex Police Museum.
On a summer night in 1851 three Essex policemen lay in wait near the county boundary between Suffolk and Essex as three burglars approached a lonely Essex farmhouse. According to the local newspaper for 13th June 1851 - about 1 am on Tuesday 10th January the dwelling house of Mr Cook (senior), a farmer of the parish, was burglariously entered by three men. It appears that the premises were under police observation, after an attempt of a like character had been made on the same premises a month previously. The local police had vigilantly guarded them and on Tuesday night were on watch, when the parties appeared. Having tried at several places, ineffectually, with a long iron chisel, to gain an entrance, they at last succeeded in removing an iron bar from a back kitchen window and entered.

One of them went to the front parlour, followed closely by a second, who on being stopped by PC 115 inflicted a terrible blow on the officer's head with the chisel. The robber in the parlour was then attacked by John Flower, a labourer in the employ of Mr Cook, and for some minutes the parties were engaged in the most desperate encounter, blood flying in all directions. The constable succeeded in getting his man down in the passage and handcuffing one of his wrists, whilst the labourer called loudly for his master. Mr Cook, hearing his cries, hastened to his assistance with his loaded gun, and when in the act of crossing the passage, the robber seized the gun, and in the scuffle discharged the contents, which unhappily entered one of the arms of the labourer. The gun was then wrenched from Mr Cook, who received a blow from it. The policeman had now to contend with both the burglars, with whom he fought single handed in a most gallant manner, though sorely belaboured by them with the gun and his own staff. The report of the gun brought to their aid PC33 and PC45, discovering whom the two burglars retreated, with a third who was watching outside the premises. Superintendent Hoy, from Halstead, on inspecting Mr Cook's premises, found that part of the dwelling in which the encounter took place was in a state resembling a slaughter house, from the desperate nature of the attack and defence.
Information was immediately forwarded to the police station at Sudbury and medical aid was procured when it was found necessary to amputate the wounded man's arm. The newspaper rejoiced to add that later information enabled them to announce the apprehension of three suspects by PC Cross from Sudbury. Their names were Stephen Prike, William Poole and James Dawson, all of whom, it was believed, would be identified by the police. Poole's head was so much cut that he could not be removed and the handcuffs were still on Dawson so there was little doubt that he was one of the party. Readers of the paper had to wait another week to learn that the fighting troops from the Essex Constabulary were Constable 33 John Eldred, 2nd Class Constable 115 John Jonas of Sible Hedingham and Constable 45 William Humphreys.
While Prike and Dawson were in custody, awaiting the next Essex Assize, Poole was taken into Castle Hedingham Police Station, where despite medical attention, he died. The inquest upon him recorded a verdict of "accidental death".
At the Summer Assize at Chelmsford in July 1851 Dawson was sentenced to death, though the judge told him commutation was likely, while Prike, who it can be inferred from the account of the incident and arrest was the look out, was transported for ten years.
Eldred was a constable until 1864, when he was superannuated with a file marked "physical incapacity." Humphreys was permitted to resign in 1852 with three years service, his file marked "Drunkenness." Hoy resigned in 1852. John Jonas was promoted to Inspector on 1 January 1853.
By that year of 52 counties only 22 had police forces with Yorkshire the poorest served with one division of the East Riding having only nine policemen. The 1856 County and Borough Police Act meant that all areas had to have a Constabulary (County force) or Police (Borough or town force) and the North Yorkshire Constabulary was established on 14 October 1856.
John Jonas resigned, as he would have been required to do if he was transferring to another force, from the Essex force on 30 November and, aged 39, started with the North Riding Constabulary on 1 December 1856 as a Superintendent based at Pickering. This promotion would have required a level of educational attainment as well as ambition but John did not progress any further. With the exception of 1859 and 1860 when the records show another Superintendent in place at Pickering John remained there for the remainder of his career in the North Riding.
At the time John joined, the force had 56 officers and constables, soon to almost double in number, under a Chief Constable. It was organised in eight divisions, with the boroughs of Middlesbrough, Richmond and Scarborough having their own forces, and was controlled by a committee of Quarter Sessions. Entrance requirements, uniforms, working conditions and so on were similar, if not identical, to Essex. The principal activities of the force were connected with what we call “street crime” notably violence and drunkenness, rather than burglary.
In the Pickering Lythe division, which was later disbanded, John had two Inspectors and 11 constables (which had increased to 15 by 1866) who were based around the area. This extended from Helmsley in the west to the Scarborough boundary in the east, from Rosedale in the north to Kirby Misperton in the south and also included Cayton, East Ayton, Falsgrave, Hutton le Hole, Kirkbymoorside, Lockton, Osbaldkirk, Scalby, Snainton, Staintondale, Thornton le Dale and Wrelton.
John retired, aged 60, on 30 June 1878 with an annual pension of £61 17s (85p) based on a North Riding service of 21 years 6 months (there are no records available to show whether he received any pension from the Essex force which was anyway unlikely as his service there was probably considered insufficient for this).
Until 1890 policemen served until they were old men unless deemed unfit for service, after medical examination, so John was retired on infirmity grounds. At the time his rank was recorded as Inspector but he had been a Superintendent as recently as 1876 when the last record available was produced so there might have been a mistake in the Pensions and Gratuities records or he may have been demoted possibly after the death of his wife in October 1876 which was probably relatively sudden and surely premature and might have caused issues he found difficult to manage.

A request for help from Elizabeth Watson of Bridlington

The first name on the family tree is John Warwick (Warrick) and Mary Wharton who lived in Terrington, Yorkshire. Married 22nd April 1776. Their children are Edward ch 25.11.1776, John ch 27.2.1779, Thomas ch 25.9.1781 and William ch 21.10.1784. All were born at Terrington.

John Warwick married Elizabeth Lion born circa 1781 at Benithorp. They had a farm called Newstead Grange Farm at Thornton Dale or Marishes. Two children show up on the 1841 census, George born 1825 and Jane born 1828. This would have made John 44 at the time of George's birth. I suspect that there are earlier brothers and sisters who are missing. The 1851 census form refers to grandchildren of John and Elizabeth Warwick being at their address. Can these siblings be traced through Thornton Dale parish records?

George married Hannah Ireland of Ebberston on 11th August 1855 at Ebberston (copy marriage certificate obtained), and they had the 11 children listed on the family tree. If any details of christenings or marriages could be found in the parish records that would be good. Also, I understand that there are nine burials mentioned in the parish records prior to 1907. Again, this would be interesting to have. However, if time is short, I would prefer to have information on the following, which is proving a bit of a mystery.

I would be interested to know if anything could be found out about Mary born 7.1.1856. She is John Warwick's wife. He was born 14.7.1856, married 1.2.1881, and died 8.1.1888. Both were born at Thornton Dale. She gives the name of Warwick on the marriage certificate and there is no name or profession in the column for father. However, there is a George Spenceley listed as a witness and, in the 1871 census, John Warwick is living as a boarder at George Spenceley's address.

I initially received this information from a cousin who had been researching his Warwick ancestors for some time. He provided me with certain certificates, but I am unsure how he determined Mary's exact date of birth as there is some mystery about her surname. This cousin has jumped to the conclusion that, because Spenceley was a witness, he was a relative of Mary's but it is possible that she was also called Warwick.

Mary Warwick (Who perhaps may have been a Spenceley) her date of birth was in a family bible.   The bible also recorded the date of death of a Mary Spenceley, which it why it was thought Mary may have been a Spenceley although her marriage certificate did not give the name of her father.