Police Service Records

[Peter Goodey]

Amanda
Henry Ryland Berrett was claimed by Lindad who as far as I know is still around. It might be worth trying to send her a personal message.

I don't know anything about the Berrett family but I can tell you that HRB was not a Bow Street Runner! He joined the Metropolitan Police in 1874 and the Runners had been wound down in the 1830s following the formation of the Metropolitan Police.

To make a start in finding out about Metropolitan Police records, have a look at the National Archives research guide -

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...ailway-police/

[Pam Downes]

Hello AmanaP,

Welcome to British-Genealogy.

Family stories often get corrupted over the years so 'one of the early policeman in London' might well have become 'one of the Bow Street Runners' especially if someone's knowledge of the timeline of the Bow Street Runners was a bit dodgy.

As Peter has said, Henry wasn't a BSR, nor was his father, James Ryling Berrett, but they were both policemen, and presumably James was also in the Met at some time though you will have to confirm that.
I don't know how much you know about the Berretts, but both James and his wife Ann Joanna(h) Davis were born and married in Wiltshire. By 1855 they'd moved to the Bexley area and when they had two of their children baptised in October 1855 James was a policeman.

I've got a load of census, baptism, and marriage details, about the family if you don't have them.

[Pam Downes]

Feel quite proud of myself. In fact, make that very proud of myself. I actually managed to find something in The National Archives!

"James Ryling Berrett, warrant number 53726. Joined on 20 Feb 1871, and left on 4 May 1896. Last posted to K Division as a PS."

Best of all is that you can get some of his records for free. Exactly how much they tell you is another matter. Hopefully this link works.
https://discovery.nationalarchives.g...RYLING+BERRETT
Click on the main heading of each section, and you should see a 'download' button on the right-hand side of the page.