BY MARK ROTHWELL
In 1922, there were 120 railway companies in Great Britain. According to the requirements of the Railway Act 1921, the number of companies was reduced to four ("The Big Four"). The merger also led to the reduction in number of railway Constabularies, leaving only four effective 1st January 1923.
The Southern Railway Police arose from the amalgamation of the London & South Western Railway Police with the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway Police, the South Eastern Railway Police, and the South Eastern & Chatham Railway Police. The effect of the merger in Devon and Cornwall was relatively minor, as the Southern Railway Police merely took over policing of the lines previously policed by the London & South Western Railway Police. Incidentally, a significant proportion of the rail network in Devon and Cornwall was also policed by the Great Western Railway Police, a situation which remained following the 1923 merger. The Southern Railway Police was split into nine divisions:i
Waterloo Division
- Waterloo, W
- Guildford, WG
- Kingston, WK
Victoria Division
- Victoria, V
- East Croydon, VE
- Tonbridge, VT
- Sutton, VS
Nine Elms Division
- Nine Elms, NE
Bricklayers Arms Division
- Bricklayers Arms, BA
Southampton Division
- Southampton Docks, S
- Southampton Terminus, ST
- Bournemouth, SB
- Basingstoke, SBS
Brighton Division
- Brighton, B
- Newhaven, BN
- St Leonards, BS
- Portsmouth, BP
Exeter Division
- Exeter, E
- Plymouth, EP
- Yeovil, EY
Dover Division
- Dover, D
- Chatham, DC
- Folkestone, DF
- Gravesend, DG
- Margate, DM
The ninth Police Division was known as the "Special Division" and was designated 'SS'.
Chief of Police
Personnel records for the Southern Railway Company are held at The National Archives. However, they are not yet digitised nor subject to access behind paywalls such as those provided by some of the online providers. Thus, for the purposes of this article, I have relied upon the appearances of Southern Railway Police Officers in the press.
The first Chief of Police of the Southern Railway Police, as they did not use the title "Chief Constable", was Superintendent Robert Duckworth. He was headquartered at Waterloo Railway Station, however he sometimes visited the western extremities of his jurisdiction. One such occasion was a formal function; on 16th November 1927, he represented the Force (along with a contingent of Constables) at the opening of an orthopaedic home on Exeter's Topsham Road. The ribbon was cut by the Duke and Duchess of York.ii On 2nd April 1930, he was one of many senior Police Officers to preside over a railway first aid competition at Exeter Central Railway Station. The winning team was the staff of Seaton Junction.iii The next Chief of Police was Lieutenant Colonel HC Prescott CMG CIE, appointed in 1936. William E N Growdon was appointed Chief of Police of the Southern Railway Police in 1947. He had a varied career; in 1920 he served as Chief Officer of the Iraq Police under British Administration, a position he occupied for almost twenty years. During the Second World War he served in the Air Ministry Directorate of Intelligence, and in 1946 became Assistant Chief of Police of the Southern Railway Police. Among his distinctions was the holding of the Order of the Two Rivers for Distinguished Police Service and the Polonia Restituta. He became Chief of Police for the London Midland area of the British Transport Commission Police in 1949 and was based at Snow Hill Railway Station, Birmingham.
Uniform and Insignia
Officers in the Force wore a 'custodian' helmet, tunic, and trousers akin to those worn by the county and borough Constabularies. The helmet plate featured the Coat of Arms of the Southern Railway Company.
World War II
During the Second World War, the Southern Railway network bore one-third of the brunt of enemy bombing of all the British railways. On two occasions, the ability to communicate by telephone was severely disrupted; once in May 1941 on the occasion of the last big bomber raid on London, and again in Exeter during the "Baedeker Blitz" of 1942. On both occasions, the running of the network relied upon wireless radio.
Detective Sergeant Bernard Huggett (Tonbridge) played an important wartime role, as close protection to various VIPs such as Prime Minister Churchill whilst in transit on the south eastern portion of the network.
Three members of the force died on active service during the War:
- PC James Innes, Waterloo
- PC Samuel Moorhouse, Waterloo
- PC Sydney Storey, Bournemouth
The following are miscellaneous excerpts from the Southern Railway Company Police Department Standing Orders Book:
Standing Order No 2 – Whenever card sharpers are seen to join a train, Policemen, either uniform or plain clothes men, or both, must go to the compartment and say, "Gentlemen, you are cautioned not to play cards with strangers on this train".
Standing Order No 6 – Only one uniform and one plain clothes man will be allowed on leave in July and August from each division. During the remainder of the year in the Brighton, Dover, and Exeter divisions, not more than one man will be allowed on leave per week.
Standing Order No 20 – No cinema operation is to be permitted on the company's premises involving action by actors, unless notice has been sent from Headquarters that a permit has been granted. The object of this is to prevent thefts being carried out under the guise of cinema stunts, and must be strictly enforced.
Standing Order No 22 – When an Officer is asked to recommend a hotel or lodging house to passengers, he must recommend a Company's hotel if there is one in the vicinity of the station. If there is no Company's hotel nearby, he must not make any recommendation.
Nationalisation of Railways and Their Police Forces
The Transport Act 1947 took the "Big Four" railway companies and merged them to one national body, thus giving rise to a national police force for the railways – British Railways Police – on 1st January 1948.
In 1949, British Railways Police became the British Transport Commission (BTC) Police, followed by further alterations in 1963 which led to the creation of the British Transport Police we know today.
(With special thanks to Martin McKay and John Owen of the British Transport Police History Group)
Sources
- Standing Order No 19, Southern Railway Company Police Department Standing Orders
- Western Times, 18 November 1927
- Western Morning News, 03 April 1930
