Research Your Met Police Family History

Produced by Friends of the Metropolitan Police Historical Collection.

The Metropolitan Police were established, by Act of Parliament, in 1829 by the then Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel. Two Commissioners of Police for the Metropolis were appointed. An establishment of 895 constables, 88 sergeants, 20 inspectors and 8 superintendents were recruited. This force grew within one year to 3,000 men, organised into seven divisions policing the metropolitan area. This excluded the City of London, where a separate city police force was established in 1832. The civilian nature of the force was emphasised in the uniforms, black stovepipe hats and blue swallowtail coats. Recruits had to be under thirty-five, at least five feet seven inches tall, physically fit, literate, and of good character. Many recruits were former soldiers or sailors, and came from outside London. There were concerns about the health and honesty of Londoners. Nevertheless, there was a high turnover of men, with many dismissals and resignations. Dishonesty, indiscipline, drunkenness were not tolerated. The Metropolitan Police were directly answerable to the Home Secretary until the year 2000, when the Metropolitan Police Authority was created (MPA).The Metropolitan Police also had responsibility for the policing of the Royal Dockyards and other military establishments, Portsmouth, Chatham, Devonport, Pembroke and Woolwich from 1860 until 1934, and Rosyth in Scotland from 1914 until 1926. The records of the Metropolitan Police are held in

The National Archives.

Family History Databases

Created by volunteers from the Friends of the Met. Police Historical Collection (FoMPHC) and Met. Police Service Historical Collection (Met. Collection) staff, these are excellent and unique finding aids for family history researchers tracing ancestors with Metropolitan Police connections.  They are available to search at the Met. Police Collection Heritage Centre - a small museum which includes access to a large collection of research material.

The Met. Police Historical Collection: The Annex, Empress State Building, Empress Approach,  Lillie Road, SW6 1TR
Opening: 10.00hrs  to 16.00hrs weekdays
Entry: Free.
Nearest Underground Station: West Brompton  (turn left outside Underground  station)
The Met. Police Historical Collection research material consists of:-  

• Central Records of Service from 1911.
• 54.000 name database from 1829 of which is updated regularly.
• Pension cards for pensioners who have died
• Police Orders from 1857
• Joiners and Leavers Records.  (copies from National Archive)
• Divisional Ledgers. (consisting of  collar Numbers, previous occupation and armed forces service) for certain periods of time for A,B,E,F,G,H,K,L,M,N,R and Y Divisions.
• Subject and People files.
• Photographs -  in the process of being scanned to Hi-Res from a vast collection.

The Friends databases include:-

• Officer database: 500,000 records including  the Women Police records which runs from No.1 in 1919   
• Women’s Auxiliary Police Corp - over 600 recently discovered cards.
• Census database: More than 130,000 records of families recorded  in various censuses in the London area that have a police  connection.
• Divisional Ledgers database.
• Baptism of police Children database for Westminster.
• Wartime (WWII)   Casualty List - over 84,000 civilian and police injured or  killed - just completed (2011).
• Gallantry Records,  medals awarded to Met officers
• Oral History interviews including donated recordings of Officer who joined 1898 and  5 of officers joining during the Police Strike 1919 (HLF funded project)
• Met Police  Special Constables - over 29,706 cards again recently discovered.  
• Police Buildings past and present

Requesting a search at the Met. Police Historical Collection is free of charge at present (2011). For searches requested through FoMPHC, a donation is requested to enable us to assist the Collection with acquisitions and for the continuing research such as the Oral History Project.

Searching For Your Police Ancestors at The National Archives, Kew

Unlike most police forces, Metropolitan Police are held at the National Archives, Kew, where the public can gain access to them. In searching for an officer’s details researchers should be aware that not all records have survived. The first important step is to try to identify the officer’s warrant number. These started from no 1 in 1829, and, apart from the first six months, were allocated consecutively according to when officers joined. A warrant number can therefore indicate the year in which an officer joined. If an officer leaves and re-joins, a second warrant number is allocated. For officers with the first 3,247 warrant numbers who joined from September 1829 until about March 1830, you can search online at www.historybytheyard.co.uk/first_recruits.htm.

Details of the first approximately 12,300 recruits, from September 1829 until December 1836 are shown in a Home Office Register of the Metropolitan Police Force (HO 65/26) which partly duplicates MEPO 4/31-2. The register has an alphabetical index of officers’ surnames.

Registers of Joiners (MEPO 4/333-338) which also give the dates of appointment and other details of officers who joined from (1830) until April 1933 (until warrant number 123091). The index is divided by initial letter of surname, but some letters are not available from 1830. Surnames beginning with B are available from 1830, for instance, but those starting with K are only shown from 1837. There are also gaps in the records because the original registers numbers 1, 4 and 5 are lost. The gaps are pre-1830 (up until warrant number 4988); and from April 1857 until July 1878 (warrant numbers 35805 - 62844).

When officers joined the Metropolitan Police they were attested as Constables they signed an Attestation Ledger (MEPO 4/352-360). These ledgers run from February 1869 until May 1958 (warrant numbers 51491 - 146379). The registers run in warrant number sequence according to date of joining and are not otherwise indexed. Searching without a date of joining or a warrant number would therefore be arduous.  The register from May 1958 to January 1984 is at the Metropolitan Police Historical Store which you can contact through info@metpolicehistory.co.uk

An alphabetical index known as the ‘Shorrocks Index’ is of Joiners between 1880 and 1889, compiled from MEPO 7/42-51 is available from the Research Enquiries Room at the National Archives. This index was compiled in October 1985 by John Shorrocks, a sergeant in the Metropolitan Police.

Certificate of Service Records (MEPO 4/361-477) exist for officers who joined from January 1889 until November 1909 (warrant numbers 74201 - 97500). They give details of previous occupation, physical characteristics etc. Officers who joined in 1873 should be included in the Record of Service Ledger (MEPO 4/509) for 1873 (warrant numbers 56601 - 56800).

A brief record of officers who left the Force is in the Metropolitan Police Register of Leavers volumes 4-16 (MEPO 4/339-351) which run from March 1889 - January 1947.

Records of Police Pensioners (MEPO 21) which runs from 1853 - 1966. Police Pensions

Police pensions date back to 1829 when the Metropolitan Police Act introduced certain benefits on disablement for London officers 'worn out by length of service'.  A full pension scheme for all police officers became available in 1890. The first unified Police Pensions Act came into force in 1921 and detailed Police Pensions Regulations along current lines followed in 1948 under the Police Pensions Act of that year. There have been many changes since then, but entitlement to a police pension has always been regarded as a key element of the remuneration of police officers to enable them to undertake their role with confidence.  Police Pensions were paid after 25, then 30, and now 35 years of service, or following illness or injury that ends an officer’s police career. The Catalogue of the National Archives can be searched online www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue  and names of officers granted pensions for a limited period from 1852 until 1890 (MEPO 21/1-19) are included in this facility.

Return of Deaths whilst serving (MEPO 4/2) which runs from 1829 - 1889.

Police Orders from 1829 - 1931 (MEPO 7) run chronologically by date and may contain details of officers joining or leaving the Force, promotions, disciplinary punishments and so on, depending upon the period. Police Orders were handwritten before 1857 and rarely contain personal details. Some retirements, promotions and deaths start to appear from about 1854/5. Details of those joining the Force start to appear from about May 1883.

The National Archives also produce Research Guides on Metropolitan Police records that are available on-line. Some records are available to be viewed on-line.

Other sources

Metropolitan and City of London Police Orphans Fund www.met-cityorphans.org.uk at 30, Hazelwell Road, Putney, London, SW15 6LH. The staff will only be able to help in what little spare time they have, but donations are always welcome.

Metropolitan Police Book of Remembrance  - www.met.police.uk/history/remembrabce.htm
In 1920 a Roll of Honour was created to memorialise Metropolitan Police Officers who died in the course of their duties. In order to remember and honour Officers who so died before 1920, or who had not been recorded in the Roll of Honour, the Book of Remembrance was researched by Sergeant Anthony Rae, a former Lancashire Police Officer, on behalf of the Police Roll of Honour Trust (Registered Charity No. 1081637) www.policememorial.org.uk as part of their larger project to create a National Police Officers Roll of Honour for the UK.

Oral History – The Coppers’ Story. In June 2007 we received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and we have recorded oral history testimony from over 85 Officers (1930s to present). We have also been donated recordings of Officer who joined 1898 (1) and 1919 (5). We are continuing to record interviews with support from NARPO. This large sound archive has been condensed into a 6 hour accessible, narrated, CD - The Coppers' Story. This CD is supported by a booklet containing a general introduction to Metropolitan Police History, a glossary of police terms and slang, a description of contents and contact details.  A copy of The Coppers' Story has been sent to all London's Local History Libraries/Archive Centres. An online database for the researchers detailing the full Sound Archive of the Coppers' Story is available. Access to the sound recordings is available by writing to FoMPHC.  Terms and Conditions apply.   oralhistory@fomphc.org.uk

Old Bailey Cases   www.oldbaileyonline.org 

The Old Bailey Proceedings, a digitised collection of all surviving editions of the Old Bailey Proceedings from 1674 to 1913, and of the Ordinary of Newgate's Accounts between 1676 and 1772. It allows access to over 197,000 trials and biographical details of approximately 2,500 men and women executed at Tyburn, free of charge for non-commercial use.

J Division Officers. www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/museum    try the Epping Forest District Museum. The police collection documents the story of policing in the district from 1800 to 2001. The collection consists of photos, documents and artefacts. The collection centres on the history of the former Metropolitan Police J Division, including information on horse patrol, local courts, Police Stations, the RGPF Police and officers at Waltham Abbey station.

List of useful websites

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk  - The National Archives

www.met.police.uk/history/index.htm  - Met. Police Service History website

www.metwpa.org.uk  - Metropolitan Women Police Association

www.oldbaileyonline.org  - Old Bailey

www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/museum   -Epping Forest District Museum

www.london-gazette.co.uk  - The London Gazette for officers given gallantry medals

www.policeorders.co.uk  - Police Orders

For professional research assistance contact www.historybytheyard.co.uk

For other enquires please contact us.