The decision to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War with a special Armistice Event was made in the summer of 2017 following an informal discussion between Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer and Police Staff Mark Rothwell. The vast archives of the Devon & Cornwall Police historic collection (known as the South West Police Heritage … Continue reading First World War Armistice Commemoration: 1918 – 2018
Archive digitisation project with the Devon Family History Society
We are delighted to announce our upcoming project with the Devon Family History Society, who will be working with us to digitise our oldest nominal rolls from Devon in the coming months. The images and indexes, once produced, will be available both on the Devon Family History Society website (membership required to access) and via … Continue reading Archive digitisation project with the Devon Family History Society
Remembering Our Police Officers Who Went To War – Barnstaple Borough Police
In 2014 historian Peter Hinchcliffe reported on the officers of Devon and Cornwall that resigned to enlist with the Army during the First World War in his article commemorating those who lost their life in the conflict. As established in Peter’s previous article it was thought that no officers from the Barnstaple Borough Police resigned … Continue reading Remembering Our Police Officers Who Went To War – Barnstaple Borough Police
Hidden Stories from the Collection: Police Cutlasses in Cornwall
Held within the Historic Collections of Devon and Cornwall Police, but on display in Truro Police station (moved into the new station site in 2014), are a set of six cutlasses, believed to date from around 1857. These are particularly interesting as we have been searching for many years to find information on their provenance, and whether or not we can securely date them to the mid-nineteeth century.
Remembering Our Police Officers Who Lost Their Lives In The First World War – One Year On
Last year, Historic Collections of Devon & Cornwall Police Heritage & Learning Resource volunteer Peter Hinchliffe researched a piece on the officers of the Devon & Cornwall Police constituent forces who lost their lives in the First World War. As Peter noted, this was a particularly tricky piece of research for a variety of reasons; … Continue reading Remembering Our Police Officers Who Lost Their Lives In The First World War – One Year On
Visiting Police Museums and Collections
Over the last two weeks, Project Assistant Carmen has been visiting various police collections across the country to gain insight into how these museums/exhibitions are run, and what we can learn in planning for the future of the Historic Collections of Devon & Cornwall Police. Here are a few images from the places she visited. … Continue reading Visiting Police Museums and Collections
Celebrating Police Sporting Heritage
Today, 30th September, we join in with celebrating National Sporting Heritage Day 2015 by adding this post, which highlights just a small sample of the wonderful sporting heritage of Devon & Cornwall Police and the constituent forces that formed it. Push Ball Game - May 5th 1927 Push Ball was invented in America in the 1890s as … Continue reading Celebrating Police Sporting Heritage
The J. Hudson and Co. Police Whistle
Police Whistles Inspired by some recent investigative eBay research of police history objects being sold online, it was interesting to see that a very popular item seemed to be the Metropolitan patent J. Hudson & Co. police whistle; a type that we hold multiple versions of within the Historic Collections of Devon & Cornwall Police.The J. Hudson … Continue reading The J. Hudson and Co. Police Whistle
Remembering our Police Officers who lost their lives in the First World War: Update II
Following research by police staff Mark Rothwell, we may be able to shed some more light on to the officers of the Devon & Cornwall forces that served in the First World War; in particular, from Truro City Police (1836 - 1921). Following publication of the original article by volunteer Peter Hinchliffe last year, we were forwarded … Continue reading Remembering our Police Officers who lost their lives in the First World War: Update II
Community Consultation: what did we learn?
As a part of the Heritage Lottery Fund Start Up Grant awarded in August 2014, the Policing Past Community Present project performed two main forms of community consultation between February 2015 and March 2015 in order to find out public opinions on the future of the Historic Collections of Devon & Cornwall Police. This research is intended … Continue reading Community Consultation: what did we learn?
