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My GGG Grandfather, John Barnard, was a Police Constable in 1851, he lived in London, so assume he was a serving officer there. Where is the best place to look to find his records, is there anything online? Have looked at police officer orders online, but no luck there. Any ither ideas please? Thanks Lynda

Lynda police-orders is the only one I know of. You aren't going to like this, but I think you will have to go to Kew. First you will need to get a microfilm to find his warrant number. The microfilm is horrid to read and not in strict alphabetical order - they often have a page or so for very common names. Then you can use the warrant number to look up the relevant warrant book which you then order. This is in the form of a ledger and will give his service details - his age on joining, birthdate/place, height, weight, hair/eye colour, complexion, chest measurement. Details of most recent employer and any previous public service is listed. It will tell you where he was based, when and any promotions. If he stayed in the force until he retired, that will be there too and you can then order up his pension record which will give details of final wages, pension amount, where it is to be paid, and possibly wife & children details. nell

Lynda There's also a chap called Derek Wilcox who has a private index to Met police - details to be found here: www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=104 Of course, he might not have been in the Met, but a City of London policeman, in which case you need to contact: The City of London Police: Registers listing every member of the force since warrant numbers were introduced on 9 April 1832 together with personal files on 95% of officers who have served since that date have been transferred from the City of London Police Records Office to the Corporation of London Record Office, PO Box 270, Guildhall, London, EC2P 2EJ (Tel: 020 7332 1251) nell

Hi Lynda there is some detailed info on the TNA web site regarding the Met Police - maybe this is of use? may point you in the right direction? www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk Much happiness Debi

Nell You're right I didn't like that:)) Tell me lies and that I can find it in minutes, or that you have a friend who works at Kew and they will bring everything about John to my house tonight ! Thanks Nell, I thought that might be the case, will get to Kew one day. Thanks again Lynda

Oh Thanks Debi and Nell for the extra info, will start having a butchers at those. Ta Muchly Lynda x

Lynda Don't shoot me, I'm only the messenger! nell

Another site is www*policeorders*co*uk. I have found some of my ancestors there!!

Dawn Lynda mentioned in her first posting that she had tried that. Bu it is a useful site - I found all 4 of my Met Police uncles there and having their warrant numbers meant finding them in Kew was really simple. nell

I tried to go to the Police Orders website, as I have a police ancestor too, but I just keep getting an error message. Am I getting the address wrong, or is there a problem with the site?

Somewhere I've got the email address for the Met Police Archivist - may take me a while to find tho as all paperwork is still in boxes her names Sue if thats any help

Debbie Try this link and if it doesn't work, give me your chap's name and rough dates and I will see if I can find him. http://www.externalserver.me.uk:8085/ nell

Thanks Nell His name is Thomas RAMSEY, and he was a police constable in 1865 in the Westminster area. I don't know if it means anything, but he had a number, too - B 183 Cheers Deb

Debbie Here you go: Date Warrant First name Last name Rank Number Station Reason PO Date 24/09/1860 39327 THOMAS RAMSEY PC JOINED 29/03/1864 39327 RAMSAY PC B RECLASSIFY 24/03/1876 39327 THOMAS RAMSEY PC B PENSIONED Reclassify = Promotion to a high grade within current Rank B was Westminster. If you get to Kew his warrant number will help you find his certificate of service in a big book which will give his physical description and other details. As he was pensioned you can also find his pension record which will tell you how much he was earning when he retired and what his pension was, and where it was paid, as well as other details. nell

Nell That's really great! Thanks for your time. Debbie