help ? London Met ?

[Paul (chunky monkey)]

Hi all.

Just found this on a website...

PC Alfred Thomas Smith
Died from the effects of injuries received in the execution of his duty in Paddington Division.
Died 20 December 1914, aged 34

That's my Great Uncle that is. Any idea where I could find more details, and if I can do that online ?

TIA

Paul

[kylejustin]

i would ask what site you found this? i do believe police employment records do exist, i have seen members here in the past successfully obtain them. death cert may give more details occupation wise.

[Paul (chunky monkey)]

I found the reference on a couple of sites.

Initially here - http://ww1talk.co.uk/showthread.php?...vice-1914-1918
and then after another search, here - http://www.met.police.uk/history/remembrance3.htm

Looks like the Met archives will do a search if you email them, at a cost of £15, I'd rather hope to just be able to find some details online though (ie free lol)

[Darksecretz]

Police

There might be some bits in our Reference Library, Paul. :smilee: (see link above)

[Paul (chunky monkey)]

Will have a look this evening, thank you.

[Mary from Italy]

If you e-mail this address:

historicstore@met.police.uk

you'll find they're very helpful. They didn't have an awful lot of information about the person I was interested in, but they sent it for free.

[Carol Bird]

If you go to

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=8738418&queryType=1&resultcount=501

you can download (free) the book of Removals (including deaths) covering 1914, look through the page for letter S, and you can then find your chap’s Warrant No. and the date he joined up.

Once you have his Warrant No., it is easier to find any other available info at TNA or the Police Archives.

Carol

[Paul (chunky monkey)]

Mary - thanks ! I did actually mail them on Wednesday, but have not had a reply as yet.
Carol, thanks for the tip, I'll have a look.

[Paul (chunky monkey)]

Thanks again for the guidance Carol, I've had a little look through the National Archives (online) and found his warrant number, date of joining etc. I've mailed the "historicstore" address above, and I've also contacted the policerollofhonour site admins to see if they can assist.

[Paul (chunky monkey)]

Very disappointed in this. Been a week now and no response from either the Met or the policerollofhonour site - not even an acknowledgement of receiving the mail :(

[Uncle John]

Public bodies usually set a 10 working days target for replying to things, or sometimes as much as 20 working days, so don't give up hope just yet.

[Paul (chunky monkey)]

Well I've had a reply from the Met, but a little disappointing to be honest, its just the same information that I'd already received, transposed onto a form, with some pension details tacked on the end. No additional information about how he died, or other service details. :(

[bcbrit]

Hi Paul,

What about a newspaper article ? You would have thought an incident like this would have the papers .
I don't know what paper would cover Paddington, but it might be worth going that route.

bcbrit

[Carol Bird]

Paul,

City of Westminster Archives keep a range of archive newspapers, including those covering Paddington.

It may be worth your while contacting them saying what you are looking for (you have a very specific date) and see if they can find and photocopy something for you.

City of Westminster Archives Centre, 10 St Ann's Street, London SW1P 2DE
Telephone: (020) 7641 5180
Fax: (020) 7641 5179
E-mail: archives@westminster.gov.uk

Carol

There wasn't anything I could find in the Times archive or any other old newspapers available on line.

[Paul (chunky monkey)]

Thanks - newspapers was the route I was going to go down next. I's also checked The Times. Thanks for the details above Carol, I'll email them.

[Christine in Herts]

Have you checked what your library membership allows you online? There's more and more available for Herts members.

Christine