Commendations - Challenge!

[Robert]

Well, so far I have drawn a blank. I have a possible for Dolden (Great Silk Robbery) and for Begg (counterfeiting case) but the dates are out by a few days.

[Monty]

Commendations and Awards came in classes, depending on the seriousness of the incident.

Class A would be for something like bravery shown whilst injured. For example, Francis Coles finder, PC Ernest Thompsons act of bravery in still holding on to a suspect despite being stabbed by the assailant, would fall into this class.

Class B would be for bravery shown in general, such as the stopping of a runaway horse, or a fire rescue.

Class C (which usually isn't cited) would cover the remaining acts of exceptional work, such as zeal in the apprehension of a villain, the giving of good solid evidence during a trial, or recommendations laid by third parties such as JPs, MPs, Hospitals and so on for good solid continuous work throughout a period of time.

The delay in dates would, in my opinion, and as suggested by others, are between recommendation date and award. Awards were given by the courts, out of a specially funded Home Office pot (often subsidised by local businesses), and therefore the recommended constable would have to wait until the next sitting of the court where such matters were heard and acted upon, Quarter Session Assizes spring to mind. This may account for some delays.

Finally, below, is the 1889 Police Codes take on the matter.

Monty

[Robert]

Hi Monty

So then the dates in the left column would be the dates on which the officers received the awards, rather than the dates on which they performed their meritorious actions?

[Monty]

Hey Robert,

Without seeing the 27th November 1888 Police Order in full, I cannot comment.

There is a difference between award and commendation, one is a community reward, and financial, and the other police recognition which helps toward promotion.

Interestingly enough, looking at Swanson, the only commendation I see him receiving in 1888 occurred in the February, and that for enquiries made into the Bloody Sunday riots.

His next commendation, as far as I can see, is three years later in 91.

Monty

[Robert]

OK, thanks Monty.

[David Orsam]

Thank you Robert, I was hoping you would join in. Sometimes even a negative result is useful.

Now, I do need to clarify something because the person who titled this thread as "Commendations" has seriously misled the board. (In my defence I was following on from Jonathan's statement in the Andrews thread that "there is the tantalizing primary source discovered by Evans and Rumbelow which shows that Sir Charles Warren, in his last days as Commissioner, awarded commendations to Inspectors Marshall, Littlechild, Swanson and Andrews.")

In fact, although the relevant section in Police Orders is headed "Commendations and Rewards", we are not dealing with commendations here but rewards. This is why Monty could not find a commendation for Swanson in his list. Cut off from the scan I have posted, but on the right hand side, it says "Recommended for reward" for the top two thirds of officers and "Note in favour" for the bottom third, so not everyone listed was even going to receive a reward.

What I think I can say with certainty is that the dates in the list are not the dates that the rewards were awarded or received because, as at 27 November 1888 (the date the list was posted), they had not yet been awarded, just recommended by the Commissioner. However, following on from the questions raised in the thread I am less confident that the dates relate to actual arrests. It may be that they are the dates the reward was recommended to the Commissioner or possibly some other internal date.

So what I propose to do is suspend this challenge, and let this thread die, but I will look properly into the whole issue of rewards for police and report back. It will take a bit of time but I have a few ideas and by about the end of this month I am confident I will be able to answer all the questions raised.

Many thanks to you, Robert, and Monty and GUT for your contributions in this thread which have helped me to clarify the issues.

[Robert]

OK David. I found one or two possible forenames that might help later :

Joseph Nespah
George Bulson
Henry Airey
Sidney Temblett
Albert Peddar

[Simon Wood]

Hi David,

Well done. An humane killing.

It should happen to more threads currently writhing in agony.

Regards,

Simon

[David Orsam]

Thanks Robert, and Simon - it will return from the dead.

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

Be afraid. Be really afraid.

David Orsam presents "Night of the Living Thread."

Regards,

Simon

[GUT]

I still think the idea is good, but we really need to nail down the event the awards or commendation relates to and to do that we need to ascertain the date it relates to, it will still be difficult but possibly worthwhile.

[Robert]

I think that Dolden may have been Charles Dolden - possibly promoted to sergeant soon after, maybe as a result of the commendation.

[Monty]

I believe he was Robert,

He accompanied Sgt Stephen White in conducting enquiries in Berner Street after the Stride murder.

Cheers
Monty


PS...apologies, it is not. I am confusing my Doldens.

[Robert]

Hi Monty

I have two Doldens, a Frederick Dolden living down Lambeth way I think, and Charles, who worked with White under Reid on the great silk robbery, which was near the end of November.

[Michael W Richards]

Since only the A category has names that we associate with the Ripper investigations, Im assuming this exercise actually belongs under a general interest category.

Cheers