John William Giffard (born 1951 or 1952) is a British retired police officer. Adopted into an aristocratic family that owns
Chillington Hall
Chillington Hall is a Georgian country house near Brewood, Staffordshire, England, four miles northwest of Wolverhampton. It is the residence of the Giffard family. The Grade I listed house was designed by Francis Smith in 1724 and John Soan ...
, he joined
Staffordshire Police
Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authorit ...
in 1973 as a
beat bobby. After serving as a staff officer to the
chief constable and a divisional commander he moved to
North Yorkshire Police
North Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and the unitary authority of York in northern England. As of September 2018 the force had a strength of 1,357 police officers, 127 ...
in 1991 to take up a position as
assistant chief constable. Giffard returned to Staffordshire Police in 1996 to become its chief constable, a role he held for a record ten years. As chief constable he reorganised the force's divisions and introduced the Major Investigations Department. During his tenure car theft and burglaries dropped and there were no undetected murders. Giffard also served on secondment to the
Home Office to assist with a review into
options to merge police forces in England and Wales. His work was recognised with the award of the
Queen's Police Medal
The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, most of whic ...
and appointment as a
commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
.
In retirement Giffard served as a vice-president of the
Association of Chief Police Officers
The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) was a not-for-profit private limited company that for many years led the development of policing practices in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Established ...
and trustee of the Staffordshire Police Cadets. After inheriting Chillington Hall Giffard carried out a programme of restoration that was recognised, in 2009, with the
Historic Houses Association
Historic Houses (formerly, and still for legal purposes, known as the Historic Houses Association or HHA) is a not-for-profit organisation that represents more than 1,650 privately owned historic country houses, castles and gardens throughout th ...
/
Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
Restoration Award.
Early life
Giffard is the adopted son of Peter Richard de Longueville Giffard, of
Chillington Hall
Chillington Hall is a Georgian country house near Brewood, Staffordshire, England, four miles northwest of Wolverhampton. It is the residence of the Giffard family. The Grade I listed house was designed by Francis Smith in 1724 and John Soan ...
, Staffordshire, and was born in 1951 or 1952.
He was adopted as an infant and Christened at
Holy Trinity Brompton
Holy Trinity Brompton with St Paul's, Onslow Square and St Augustine's, South Kensington, often referred to simply as HTB, is an Anglican church in London, England. The church consists of six sites: HTB Brompton Road, HTB Onslow Square (former ...
on 24 July 1952. One of his godparents was the former soldier and future Conservative Party member of parliament
Airey Neave
Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, (;) (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979.
During World War II he was the first British prisoner-of-war
...
.
The Giffard family have occupied Chillington Hall since 1178 and trace their lineage back to
William of Gifford, a Norman knight that Professor
Frank McLynn
Francis James McLynn FRHistS FRGS (born 29 August 1941), known as Frank McLynn, is a British author, biographer, historian and journalist. He is noted for critically acclaimed biographies of Napoleon Bonaparte, Robert Louis Stevenson, Carl Jung, ...
states was one of the men to kill
Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the C ...
at the
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...
in 1066.
Giffard was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
.
[ He was also known by the nickname "Giff".][
]
Police career
Giffard joined Staffordshire Police
Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authorit ...
in 1973, serving as a beat bobby in Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
.[ Giffard became staff officer to the chief constable in 1984. In 1991 he was divisional commander at ]Cannock
Cannock () is a town in the Cannock Chase district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It had a population of 29,018. Cannock is not far from the nearby towns of Walsall, Burntwood, Stafford and Telford. The cities of Lichfield and Wolverh ...
and later that year transferred to the North Yorkshire Police
North Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and the unitary authority of York in northern England. As of September 2018 the force had a strength of 1,357 police officers, 127 ...
to become an assistant chief constable.[
In 1996 Giffard returned to Staffordshire Police to take up the role of chief constable. In this role Giffard oversaw the reorganisation of the force's territorial divisions and, in 2003, introduced a Major Investigations Department.][ Giffard's work was recognised with the award of the ]Queen's Police Medal
The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, most of whic ...
for distinguished service, on 14 June 1997. Upon the end of his seven-year tenure in 2002 the Home Office approved an extension for a further three years.[ Giffard was appointed a ]commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in the 2003 New Year Honours
The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...
for services to the police.
During his time as chief constable he was also a senior professional advisor to the Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
. Giffard had been seconded to the Home Office in late 2005 to assist with a nationwide review of policing, the Police Structures Review Unit, which looked at options to merge neighbouring forces.
Giffard finally retired on 2 April 2006. At the time of his retirement he was the longest-serving chief constable in England and Wales.[ He was also the longest-serving chief constable in Staffordshire Police history.] His tenure saw a significant drop in reported car theft and burglaries and the force was recognised as one of the best performing in the country. During Giffard's time as chief constable there were no undetected murders in the force area.[
On retirement Giffard was appointed to the position of 1st vice-president of the ]Association of Chief Police Officers
The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) was a not-for-profit private limited company that for many years led the development of policing practices in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Established ...
.[ In 2017 he was appointed to the board of trustees of the Staffordshire Police Cadets.][ The Staffordshire Police now awards the annual John Giffard Sports Award.
]
Personal life
Giffard is married to Texan-born Crescent; he has at least one son, Charlie, who became an estate agent
An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged i ...
. Giffard's family resided with him in Yorkshire during his appointment there.[
Giffard moved into Chillington Hall in 1999.][ The passing of the ]Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the ...
, which banned fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...
with dogs in England and Wales, posed a particular challenge to Giffard. The Albrighton Hunt
The Albrighton Hunt is a United Kingdom foxhound pack, with hunting country of around 30-35 miles by within Shropshire and Staffordshire.
History
The Albrighton Hunt was preceded by two hunts in the North and South country, called the Shifnal an ...
, was permitted access to the grounds of Chillington Hall by Giffard's father. The hunt had close links with the Giffard family, having been founded by his adoptive father's ancestor Walter Giffard in 1830. Giffard and his father continued to permit the hunt to use the grounds until the act came into force, but Giffard notified the hunt that he would pursue trespass charges if it continued afterwards. In a ''Times'' article discussing the issue Giffard was described as "arguably Britain's most aristocratic policeman". There was also speculation, denied by Giffard, that he had been a potential candidate for chair of the pro-hunting Countryside Alliance
The Countryside Alliance (CA) is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as farming, rural services, small businesses and field sports, aiming to "Give Rural Britain a voice".
History
The Countryside Alliance ...
.
Giffard later inherited the hall from his father, becoming part of the 29th generation of Giffards to own it. From 2008 he carried out a programme of restoration that included reroofing of the structure and redecoration of the rooms. His restoration of the hall's salon won the Historic Houses Association
Historic Houses (formerly, and still for legal purposes, known as the Historic Houses Association or HHA) is a not-for-profit organisation that represents more than 1,650 privately owned historic country houses, castles and gardens throughout th ...
/Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...
Restoration Award in 2009.
In retirement Giffard installed a memorial fountain in the grounds of the hall to commemorate Staffordshire Police officers who have died in service. The memorial sits in a newly planted wood with views across Western Staffordshire, with visits by arrangement with the hall. In 2019 he hosted a dinner for 120 people at Chillington Hall that raised £13,000 for the police cadets.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giffard, John (police officer)
1950s births
English recipients of the Queen's Police Medal
British police officers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Giffard family
People educated at Eton College
Living people