Wigan Album

Am I correct in my thinking, that the gentleman wearing civilian clothes, and separated from the police ladies, is Supt. Davies?.

Is the tall senior officer, the Ch/Const Mr Aitkin. Other previous officers’ of Wigan Borough Police, will say yea, or nae.

I feel sympathy for the WPCs in that unbecoming uniform - still it was just after the war. Far different these days!

Albert, You are correct in naming ex. Supt. Davies, but I doubt if that is David Aitken. Sorry Rev. David I cannot name the then mayor.

Possibly the police lady at far end of the line appears to be Alice Jewel. When I was serving in the Wigan Police., she was the W.P. Sgt.

Is the photo taken in the Grammar School quadrangle?

Albert - if 'at the end of the line' you mean at the opposite end, and just visible between the inspecting officers - you're probably right. In the earlier pic I posted, WPS Jewell is on that end of the line too.

I would think this is the early to late fifties. Aubrey I believe that that is Mr Aiken in the rank of superintendent, prior to him being appointed Ch/Cont.. Mr Davies would have been Det/Insp. I/c Wigan Borough Police, at that particular time Margaret Higham would have been amongst the Police ladies. She transferred to the Lancs Const. to rank of sergeant, in the late fifties

Wayne Dooley, England ruby union player, and served in the Blackpool Police, was Amy’s nephew.

Yes That is what I meant Reverend.

A. H.M.I. Inspection was one that each constable dreaded. After the parade in the grounds of the grammar school, we would all assemble in the magistrates court. The H.M.I. would select a constable, at random, pick a date that that constable was on duty, and ask the officer to tell him what incidents from the records of his pocket book he had dealt with that day. From the incident chosen, all officers’ mentioned in that incident would have to produce their pocket books, and relate to the H.M.I. Their involvement.. It sometimes involved several officers’ on their feet, that had been involved. So all pocket books would have to be in good chronological order.

I now know why corroborating evidence is so important since my first reaction to the identity of the gentleman extreme left of the photo was Paul Foster who in 1956 was Chief Constable of the Borough Police Force.

Reverend. This photograph appears to be a different occasion than the previous one, In that photograph Amy is shown next to Mr Davies.

Yes, Albert - the HMI is also starting his inspection from the opposite end of the row - he was by the plain clothes officers in the first Inspection pic I put up.

Reverend From your searches. Did you discover how often these H.M.I’s. inspections took place?. I don’t recollect them being annually..

Albert - I believe they did take place annually.
They did in later years (1970s and 1980s), but not on such a large scale.

Sorry, Albert, I don't know - the pics of Inspections are not dated. Next time I'm in the MoWL I'll look through the Chief Constable's Annual Reports, as I assume an Inspection would be reported on. That might give the frequency.

Answering Broady yes this is the Grammar School Quad.

Another shot from this Inspection appears in 'Policing Wigan' by James Fairhurst (Landy Publishing, 1996). It was taken a few yards further back, showing Sgt. Jewell and ' Big Amy' and the policewoman between her and Ina Duxbury. The inspecting party (complete with the same Mayor) has just passed the 'mobile unit' - officers with pedal cycles. A police car in the distance is sporting a POLICE sign on its roof - which none of the cars in the Inspection picture already featured here appears to have.
The date of the Inspection is given as 'about 1954' - which is when I reckon Ina Duxbury joined up, at the age of 21.

Ron Hunt has a series of scans of the Wigan Almanac showing the respective Mayors for each year. Going by the photographs there, I reckon this is Cllr. Ralph Fisher, who was Mayor for 1959/60. Judging by the shadows, I would say this Inspection took place in the summer of that year.

I went on the H.M.I inspectionn on just one occasion. 1959. This makes me believe they were not held annually, as there were numerous Borough forces within the north. I was in the Wigan Police 1958 to1964.

When I was a pupil at Wigan Grammar School from 1960 to 1966 I can remember Wigan Borough Police being inspected in the quadrangle of the Grammar School. I learnt more about it when I joined the force as a Cadet in July 1967 and became P.C. 52 in July 1968. On the 1st April this year it will be exactly 50 years since the demise of the Borough Force when it and every other Borough Force still operating in Lancashire were amalgamated into the Lancashire Constabulary Force