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Victoria Regina British Police Officer Sword


SARGE

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Gents,

This particular sword is an British presentation police sword from the Victorian period. Good swords can be found if you look hard enough and long enough and I found a winner.

This sword has a bronze colored hilt and fittings with a "VR" cypher in the guard. It was sold by Samuel Brothers Outfitters of London and has a brass proof slug. There are also cyphers of Queen Victoria and the recipient of the sword etched on the blade. Also, the blade has the early unofficial crest of the County Borough of Stockport (located in NW England) with the wording, "Corporate Reform" and the date 1836 on a ribbon. This Police Force became the Cheshire Constabulary in 1967 and was merged into the Greater Manchester Police in 1974.

The obverse blade has a lengthy inscription, in tiny letters on a ribbon, that reads as follows: "Presented to William H. Jones, Esq. Chief Constable by the members of the County Borough of Stockport Police Force as a token of respect and esteem December 1896."

If anyone has any idea of the maker of this sword I would like to hear your ideas. I would also like to know what style of sword knot would have been worn by a Chief of Police during this time period. And, any information on Chief Wm. H. Jones would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

VR Police sword.JPG

VR Police hilt.JPG

VR Police hilt cypher.JPG

VR Police sword maker.JPG

VR Police county crest.JPG

VR Police Queen crest.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...

Very nice sword, and I can't help you on the maker, but I believe the "R" in the VR cypher is for "Regina" (Latin for "Queen"; "Rex" is Latin for "King.")

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Very nice sword, and I can't help you on the maker, but I believe the "R" in the VR cypher is for "Regina" (Latin for "Queen"; "Rex" is Latin for "King.")

 

Thanks for the correction Bill. My bad. :unsure:

 

I corrected the title. This is what happens when your typing fingers are faster than your brain.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you Elizabeth!

 

This is great information. To fill out the Squire's life a bit further it seems that he later fell onto hard times and went bankrupt as I found a bankruptcy notice for him right before WWI I believe. Perhaps those huge English property and inheritance taxes at work if you believe the Dalton Abby TV series. I certainly appreciate you helping me flesh out his life.

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Here they are in Swansea in 1881 Census:

post-185332-0-65160900-1542038476_thumb.jpg
"Sheffield Evening Telegraph" 04 Apr 1901:
Yesterday Mr. W. H. Jones, Chief Constable of Stockport, resigned his position, after 22 years' service. The salary £400 per annum.
Once we get the papers again (in a week or so), I'll post the actual paper images. These are OCR transcriptions, hence the question marks. But, give me a few days, and I'll get them for you!
There's a notice about his retirement in the "Manchester Courier and Lancashire Gazette" 06 Apr 1901, in which WHJ is going to state the grounds on which he retired.
There's an obituary for him in "Manchester Evening News" 19 Nov 1902.
He died due to ill health, the original cause of his resignation the previous year.
DEATH OF THE EX-CHIEF CONSTABLE OF STOCKPORT.
News has been received in Stockport of the death of Mr. W.H. Jones, the ex-Chief Constable of the borough. Owing to ill-health Mr. Jones resigned his position as Chief Constable in April of last year. He had then been 22 years in the police force, and was granted a pension of £120 year. Had he remained another three years with the force he would have been entitled to a pension of ???? a year. The late Mr. Jones came to Stockport in 1890 from Swansea, where he had been an inspector, and with which force he was connected for eleven years. Mr. Jones is followed in the office of Chief Constable of Stockport by Mr. F. Brindley, the present chief, who was an inspector in the Manchester police force. The death took place at Southsea, where the deceased gentleman had resided for a little time
Death was registered in the Civil Registration Death Indes for Oct-Nov-Dec 1902 in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

 

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