Early Years.
Horace Burgess Jones was born on the 23rd April 1891 at Hoxton, Middlesex. He was baptised on the 28th June 1891 at St. Mark, Old Street, Shoreditch. The family were living at 75, Buckland Street, Shoreditch at that time.
His father, Thomas Jones a Police Constable in the City of London, married his mother, Haidee Burgess, on the 14th August 1886 at Horley, Surrey. They had five children:
1. Horace Burgess. 2. Cyril Thomas born in 1896 at Hoxton. 3. Gwen Haidee born in 1899 at Islington. 4. Madge Hildred born in 1901 at Islington. 5. Frank William born in 1904 at Islington.
During the 1901 census the family were living at 31, Elmore Street, Islington. They were still at the same address at the time of the 1911 census. Horace was a student for the Civil Service and his father was now a Police pensioner.
Little else is known about Horace’s life for the next two years other than at some point he was employed as a Railway Policeman at Euston Station by the London and North Western Railway Company, he then applied to join the Hertford County Constabulary.
Police Service.
Horace’s Hertford County Constabulary Form 3 Record Sheet has survived and shows the following: Horace was Appointed on the 1st December 1913 as Constable 300 on £1/4/6 per week. He underwent his Probationer training at Police Headquarters at Hatfield in the 7th Class of recruits with Sergeant 57 Cousins as his instructor.
Horace was 22 7/12 years of age on joining. He was born at St. Johns, Hoxton, London on the 23rd April 1891, he was 5 feet 9 inches tall, chest 34 inches, fair complexion, grey eyes, fair hair and had an abscess scar on the outside of his left thigh. He gave his religion as Church of England and his father Thomas Jones as his next of kin. He said he could not ride a cycle but he could swim.
On the 19th November 1913 he was medically examined by the Police Surgeon G.A. Upcott-Gill who signed the following certificate: I hereby Certify that I have examined the above Candidate as to his health and bodily strength and consider him fit for the Constabulary of this County.
At the completion of his training he was Attested at Hatfield before C.W. Gaussen J.P. and G.W. Whattley J.P.
On the 26th February 1914 he was taken on to the Roster and posted to E Division at Hitchin.
Pay Rises.
The following General Orders all informed Horace he would receive an increase of pay on the 1st December of the year shown:
General Order 6 of the 8th January 1915 from £1/4/6 to £1/5/8 per week.
General Order 189 of the 8th December 1915 from £1/5/8 to £1/6/10 per week.
Enlistment.
From his Police Service Record, we know that Horace enlisted on the 11th December 1915, but he was immediately transferred to the Section B Army Reserve and returned to his Police duties. This was part of what was known as the Derby Scheme. Thousands of men around the country including dozens of Hertfordshire Police Officers enlisted under the scheme. The Hertfordshire Officers mainly enlisted between the 9th and the 11th December 1915. Every Section B Reservist was issued with an individually numbered Khaki Armlet with a red Crown displayed on it which was to be worn on the upper left arm to demonstrate they were a Reservist and were waiting to be mobilised.
Pay Rise.
General Order 141 of the 28th December 1916 showed Horace received a rise in his pay from £1/6/10 to £1/7/5 per week.
Mobilised.
General Order 5 of the 22nd January 1917 was entitled Police Constables (Naval and Military Service) Act 1914 Police (Emergency Provisions) Act 1915 Enlistment in H.M. Forces: Consequent upon the demand for men of military age for service in H.M. Army the Standing Joint Committee have reconsidered the strength at which it is necessary to maintain the force and have authorised that a further 20 members shall be released for Army Service. Five of these have been accepted provisionally by the Army Council for service in the Military Mounted Police. Further instructions with regard to these men will be issued as soon as received.
In accordance with the resolution of the Standing Committee dated 5th January 1917 the Deputy Chief Constable hereby gives the necessary consent as required by the above Acts to a further fifteen Constables for the purpose of enlisting in H.M. Army. Horace was included in this group. The Constables enumerated will be released from the Police Service as from Thursday 1st February 1917 inclusive and will be paid up to and including the 31st January 1917. General Order 8 of the 25th January 1917 referred to Order 5/1917 and announced that the same fifteen Constables who were being released for military service were being granted leave of absence on 30th and 31st January 1917.
Army Service During The War.
Horace’s Army Service Record has not survived but from his Medal Roll Index Card, Medal Roll and his Police Service Record we know the following:
He re-enlisted on the 1st February 1917 and was mobilised on the 2nd February 1917 and initially became a Gunner in the Royal Horse Artillery but he then transferred to the Military Foot Police and it is believed that Horace became Lance Corporal P/11959 H.B. Jones.
General Order 54 of the 23rd June 1917 was entitled The Police Reservists (allowances) Act 1914. Reference order no/. 183 1915. At a meeting of the Standing Joint Committee held at Hatfield on 15th June 1917 six allowances were granted to the dependents of unmarried Constables who have enlisted in H.M. Army for the period of the war. Horace’s mother, Haidee Jones, was granted a weekly allowance of 8 shillings from the 1st February 1917.
His Police Service Record states that he served on the Western Front from the 3rd August 1917 until the 5th September 1919. Horace’s Medal Roll shows that he was in France between 29th August 1917 and the 11th November 1918, although this is believed to be an administrative date as his marriage record below indicates he was probably actually home on leave at the end of the War.
He was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
Marriage.
Horace Burgess Jones, age 27 a bachelor soldier serving in H.M. Forces, married Daisy Florence Marshall, age 22 (born 16th August 1896 at Preston, Herts.) a spinster of Langley, Stevenage on 16th November 1918 at the Parish Church Stevenage. His father Thomas Jones a Policeman was deceased, her father, Samual Marshall, was a Plate Layer.
They had three children:
1. Vera Constance born in 1920 born Watford. 2. Ralph Marshall born in 1922 born Hitchin. 3. Sheila Florence born in 1923 born Hitchin.
General Order 20 of 19th January 1919 was entitled Allowances to wives of Police Soldiers. It announced that the Chief Constable had considered the position of each individual Police Soldier under the new scale of pay and found after taking into consideration the total income of the family from allowances, including the value of the soldier’s food and clothing, that in 16 cases the families were in a worse financial position then they would have been had the man remained in the force. These cases were put before the Standing Joint Committee and they authorised extra payments, with effect from 1st July 1918. PC 300 Jones H.B. E Division was awarded £0/0/5 extra per week with £0/3/8 to be paid retrospectively with the allowances for the week ending 22nd January 1919.
His Police Service Record shows that Horace was finally demobilised on 9th September 1919. Like every other soldier he would have been granted 28 days leave on his demobilisation and he would have used this time to apply to re-join the Police.
Re-joining The Police.
He underwent a Medical Examination by the Force Surgeon on the 20th September 1919 to ensure that he was still fit enough for Police duties. He was then re-Appointed on the 25th September 1919 and posted to C Division at Watford.
General Order 191 of the 22nd September 1919 announced the re-appointment to the Force on the 25th September of two Police soldiers who had been released from H.M. Army they were:
PC 249 Burns A.R. E Division Hitchin on £4/10/0 per week.
PC 300 Jones H.B. C Division Watford on £4//0/0 per week.
Both officers had to be formerly re-attested and the Superintendents concerned had to report to the Chief Constable when this had been done, providing the date and place of Attestation and before whom taken. Both men had served in the Military Police and had served much longer after the Armistice than most of the other Hertfordshire Police Soldiers. Horace was re-Attested on the 30th September 1919.
His Police Service Record carries the following endorsement: The period of his Army Service from 1st February 1917 to 24th September 1919 was to count as Police Service for pension purposes Vide Standing Joint Committee Resolution 35 of 9th October 1914.
Pay Rise.
General Order 248 of the 18th December 1919 informed Horace that he would receive an increase of pay from £4/0/0 to £4/2/0 per week from the 1st December 1919.
Transfer Cancelled.
General Order 120 of the 16th July 1920 instructed Horace that from the 22nd July 1920 he was being transferred from C Division at Watford to F Division at Hertford and to occupy the cottage at 16, Townsend Street, Hertford, however, it had then been crossed through with a hand written note saying delete. The 1921 Electoral Roll confirms that he did not move as it records Horace Burgess and Daisy Florence Jones as living at 56, Cardiff Road, Watford.
General Order 3 of the 5th January 1921 informed Horace that he would receive an increased rate of pay from £4/2/0 to £4/4/0 per week from the 1st December 1920.
Transfer.
General Order 25 of the 18th February 1921 instructed Horace that from the 28th February 1921 he was being transferred from C Division at Watford to E Division at Willian and to occupy the cottage being vacated by ex-Police Constable Theed. The census of 19th June 1921 shows Horace, Daisy and daughter Vera, age 11 months, living at Mount Cottage, Willian, and the Electoral Rolls of 1922 to 1926 list them as living at the same address.
Pay Rises
The following General Orders all informed Horace he would receive an increase of pay on the 1st December of the year shown:
General Order 196 of the 9th December 1921 from £4/4/0 to £4/6/0 per week.
General Order 167 of the 13th December 1922 from £4/6/0 to £4/8/0 per week.
General Order 14 of the 16th January 1924 from £4/8/0 to £4/10/0 per week.
Transfer.
General Order 22 of the 3rd February 1927 instructed Horace that he was being transferred from E Division at Willian to C Division at Watford and to occupy the new Police Cottage at Whippendell Road, Watford. His Police Service Record shows he was transferred on the 14th February 1927. The Electoral Rolls of 1927 to 1930 list Horace Burgess and Daisy Florence Jones as living at 274, Whippendell Road, Watford.
A Minor Blemish.
On the 10th December 1934, the Chief Constable admonished Horace for being two hours late for duty at 10 a.m. on the 6th December 1934 at Watford.
A Final Transfer.
His Police Service Record shows he was transferred to D Division at Tring on the 15th June 1936. It is not known where they were living.
Retirement And Life After The Police.
Horace retired as a Constable on pension on the 30th November 1938 having completed his 25 years’ service. He received a pension of £145/9/5 per annum.
In the 1939 Register records Horace, a retired Police Constable, his wife Daisy and family as living at 7, Hillmay Drive, Hemel Hempstead.
Horace Burgess Jones died of Bronchopneumonia on the 10th October 1969 in St. John’s Wing at the General Hospital in Hemel Hempstead. At the time of his death his death his usual address was 246 St. John’s Road, Hemel Hempstead.
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