Public Servant Lifestyle

Wiltshire Constabulary produces a new updated version of their Official Force History.

The Oldest and the Best by Paul Sample

To celebrate the 165th year of policing in Wiltshire and Swindon, Wiltshire Constabulary has produced a second edition of the Official Force History, The Oldest and the Best by Paul Sample. The book updates the Force History from the point of the 150th Anniversary (1989) to the end of last year (2003), and includes information on the development of the new Emergency Communications Centre, opened in November last year by HRH Duchess of Gloucester, and the Chief Constable, Elizabeth Neville, becoming a Dame of the British Empire in the 2003 New Year Honours List.

It draws heavily on archives, diaries, newspaper reports and personal testimonies and many current and past members of Wiltshire?s Police and civilian staff have been involved in the updating of the book and have provided lots of additional information.

The book has been completed at a time when we have secured a semi-permanent home for our rich selection of Force historical artefacts at Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre, currently on long term five year loan) with our own 'room' at the Museum. This was opened in September 2003, with the largest ever attendance to the Museum on a Saturday that the museum can ever recall.

(Below, right) Author Paul Sample signs the first copies of the new second edition of the official History of Wiltshire Constabulary updated to 2003, on the occasion of the official launch.

Interest in the Force History crosses age, sex and cultural boundaries, and that it has proved to be a strong 'magnet' to enable people of all ages and backgrounds to find out more about the Force and the history of Policing in the area.

Some of the key features of the book describe:

How Sergeant Enos Molden tackled a crazed gunman at Corsley in 1892 - and paid with his life.

How PC Ernest Pike shot his Sergeant in cold blood rather than face a posting to a far away village(!)

How a series of 'dynamite outrages' in the 1880s brought terror to the County.

County Police Act (1839)

Dame Elizabeth Neville, Chief Constable commented: "As the first of the County Forces to be created by virtue of the 1839 County Police Act, we have a long and varied history, and Paul Sample's history gives an excellent insight into this fascinating journey and into the lives and working conditions of those people who made it possible. The updated book highlights the many constants of locally delivered policing over the years - whilst the idea of requesting airborne assistance would have been beyond the wildest dreams of those first officers, I'm sure they would, if back on patrol today, recognise our continued commitment to issues such as community safety, public reassurance and crime prevention - working in partnership to Keep Wiltshire Safe."

To read this fascinating, scholarly book for yourself, visit the Wiltshire Police website here, where you can download the whole volume as a PDF file, chapter by chapter or as a full document (be warned ? it?s quite a large work). A limited number of hard copies are also available via Chippenham Museum & Heritage Centre in the Market Place, Chippenham and at local libraries and police stations in the Force area. Please remember that the copyright of the book is owned by its author, Paul Sample.

2003 also saw the presentation of an Official Force Portrait of Wiltshire Constabulary History, (3ft x 1.5ft) which drew heavily from information contained within Paul Sample?s history of the Constabulary. Paul Sample, the author of the book a long serving Police Authority member who runs his own PR Company in Salisbury.

The Oldest and the Best is available now.

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