Lecture
Policing in Henley
Speaker: Andrew King
Tue, 1 Oct 2024
About the lecture:
From Parish Constables to the Formation of the Oxfordshire Constabulary
Policing Henley-on-Thames from Parish Constables to the formation of the Oxfordshire Constabulary in 1857 shows the progression from the hue and cry system required from every eligible citizen through to the duties of the parish constables selected annually from the population by the town Mayor, regardless of their wishes, to a more professional police in the small market town of Henley-on-Thames.
The names of those private Henley citizens selected to carry out the constable’s duties are known through surviving records; newspaper reports ;and Assize and Quarter Session trial records. Parish Constables were expected to carry on their trade whilst being called upon at any time to fulfil their policing duties. Their only reward was expenses paid by the victim of crime, once a successful prosecution was obtained.
Reporting to the town Justices, these Henley constables maintained law and order in the town, dealing with diverse offences of Murder, Assault, Burglary and Larceny, with sentences resulting in imprisonment, and on occasions transportation to Australia, or the death penalty. In 1830 the corporation decided that the town needed a more ‘professional’ police force which resulted in two salaried constables. One resident, Henry Stephens became the longest-serving Henley constable from 1834 to 1862 and was regarded as ‘our active constable’ in local newspapers. A hero by today’s standards, he relentlessly pursued criminals bringing them to justice for over a quarter of a century, only to die a pauper.
If you thought that the first Henley police station was on the corner of Kings Road beside the Town Hall – pictured above – you are wrong! That one opened in 1869. The first one however was a lock-up which opened in 1854 in the old Guildhall, then in Middle Row, now the Market Place. It had 2 cells and a house for the police constable.
Andrew spent two years researching the subject and has gathered the names and stories of those who have kept law and order in the Town.
Andrew King was born in Henley-on-Thames and attended Gillotts School. He joined the Thames Valley Constabulary in 1971, and attended the No.5 Regional Training Centre, Eynsham Hall, North Leigh, Witney, Oxon. He served in uniform for five years, before completing the Metropolitan Police Detective Training Course at Peel House, Hendon, in 1977. Andrew then worked on CID, Special Branch and the Fraud Squad, where he undertook various investigations that involved overseas travel to the Russian Federation, British Virgin Islands and the USA. Following his retirement from the Thames Valley Police after 32 years, Andrew worked as a fraud investigator for a private accountancy firm, and undertook overseas fraud enquiries in South Africa, Senegal, Mauritania and Malawi, on behalf of the Department for International Development and Oxfam. He is a member of the Police History Society and the Oxfordshire Family History Society.