Lyme Regis Borough Police
1829 - 1860At the time of the establishment of the Metropolitan Police in London in 1829, a police force for the borough of Lyme Regis was also established. Mr William Bennett Wright (Serjeant at Mace) was appointed Police Constable in July 1846 under the provisions of the Act by the Commissioners of the Lyme Regis Improvement Act. The Act was responsible for undergoing improvement and enlargement of the harbour at Lyme Regis. The Lyme authorities wishing to make it known at the time to the mercantile world and all others engaged in shipping that Lyme was a complete harbour of refuge to ships in stormy weather.
Mr Wright was elected to the burial board in 1856 with a salary fixed at £25. He was to be the last Chief Constable of Lyme Regis Borough Police. He was superseded in his office by the introduction of the Dorset county police force in 1860. Taking Mr Wright's past services into consideration, recognition to him in the form of a gratuity of £50 was agreed in response to Mr Wright's petition at the time. Mr William Wright later resigned as the Inspector of Nuisances for the Borough in 1865 on account of advancing years and infirmity. Mr Batty, Sergeant of the Dorset County Constabulary was elected.
Lyme Regis Borough Police became part of Dorset County Constabulary 3 April 1860.
Sources
- Sherborne Mercury, 25 June 1846, 23 July 1846, 29 July 1851, 22 June 1852, 26 February 1856, 10 July 1860, 23 October 1860 - British Newspaper Archive
- Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 19 January 1850 - British Newspaper Archive
- Dorset County Chronicle, 30 September 1854 - British Newspaper Archive
