Berkshire Constabulary is a former Home Office police force which was responsible for policing the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

Southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes G ...

. Berkshire Constabulary was merged with four other adjacent police forces in 1968 to form the Thames Valley Constabulary, later known as

Thames Valley Police Thames Valley Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley, covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. It the largest non-metropolitan police force in England and Wales, covering a ...

. Formed in 1856, the Constabulary was headquartered near

Forbury Gardens Forbury Gardens is a public park in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The park is on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey, which was in front of the Abbey Church. The site was formerly known as the Forbury, and one o ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, until it moved in 1952 to

Sulhamstead Sulhamstead is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Berkshire, England. It occupies an approximate rectangle of land south of the (Old) Bath, Somerset, Bath Road (A4 road (Great Britain), A4) between Reading, Berkshire, ...

House (then called the "White House"), purchased by the Berkshire County Council five years earlier for £53,000. The house is currently the Thames Valley Police Training College and Thames Valley Police Museum. Berkshire Constabulary subsumed several smaller police forces during its existence, including the

Abingdon Borough Police Abingdon Borough Police was the police force responsible for policing the Borough of Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, situated in the county of Berkshire, England until 1889. It was formed as a result of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The forc ...

Maidenhead Borough Police Maidenhead Borough Police was the police force responsible for policing the borough of Maidenhead in Berkshire, England until 1889. It had been established in 1836 as a result of the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835. Maidenhead Borough Police ...

Newbury Borough Police Newbury Borough Police, formed as a result of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, operated in the Borough of Newbury, county of Berkshire, England until 1875, when the force was voluntarily amalgamated into Berkshire Constabulary. Today, the ar ...

Wallingford Borough Police Wallingford Borough Police was the police force responsible for policing the borough of Wallingford in Berkshire, England until 1856. It had been established in 1836 as a result of the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835. Wallingford Borough Poli ...

and

Wantage Borough Police Wantage Borough Police was the police force responsible for policing the town of Wantage in Berkshire, England until 1856. Unusually, and in contrast to the establishment of most borough police forces across England in the 1830s, this small police ...

. The

Windsor Borough Police Windsor Borough Police was the police force responsible for policing the borough of Windsor in Berkshire, England until 1947. It had been established in 1836 as a result of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. Windsor Borough Police was amalgamat ...

remained an independent force until in 1947. In 1965, Berkshire Constabulary had an establishment of 603 and an actual strength of 480. On 1 April 1968 Thames Valley Constabulary was formed by amalgamating Berkshire Constabulary with

Buckinghamshire Constabulary Buckinghamshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Buckinghamshire, England, until 1968. Buckinghamshire Constabulary was established 6 February 1857. At establishment it had a strength of 102 officers. In 1868, p ...

, the

Oxford City Police Oxford City Police was the police force of the City of Oxford, England. It policed the city from 1 January 1869 until 31 March 1968. It was established to succeed a "watch and ward" force that had been founded in 1835. On 1 April 1968 it and fou ...

, the

Oxfordshire Constabulary Oxfordshire Constabulary was the Home Office police force for the county of Oxfordshire, England, excluding the city of Oxford itself, from 1857 until 1968. History Oxfordshire Constabulary was established in 1857. It absorbed Chipping Norton Bor ...

and the

Reading Borough Police Reading Borough Police was a police force for the borough of Reading in the United Kingdom. The force was created on 21 February 1836, at which time it had a strength of 30 constables, two sergeants and two inspectors. Towards the end of the 19th ...

Chief Constables

*1856–1863 : Colonel James Fraser *1863–1902 : Colonel Adam Blandy *1902–1932 : Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Faulconer Poulton *1932–1953 :

Humphry Legge, 8th Earl of Dartmouth Humphry Legge, 8th Earl of Dartmouth, (14 March 1888 – 16 October 1962) was a British peer and police officer. Legge was the youngest son of the William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth. During the First World War, he served as a commander with t ...

*1954–1958 : John Lovegrove Waldron *1958–1968 : Thomas Charles Birkett Hodgson''Daily Telegraph Reporter''. "Chosen from 59 Applicants." ''Daily Telegraph'', 26 Nov. 1958, p. 14. The Telegraph Historical Archive, https://link-gale-com.rp.nla.gov.au/apps/doc/IO0702472343/GDCS?u=nla&sid=GDCS&xid=b9a44361. Accessed 2 Dec. 2019. (later Chief Constable of the Thames Valley Police) *''1968 : Merged with other forces to form

References

{{Reflist
A pre-history of Thames Valley Police

Defunct police forces of England

Constabulary Constabulary may have several definitions: *A civil, non-paramilitary (police) force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in the United Kingdom, in which all county police forces once bore the title (and som ...

1856 establishments in England 1968 disestablishments in England

Chief Constables

See also

References