Virtual Museum of Police in Wales.

Virtual Museum of Police in Wales. I SEEK OLD ITEMS FROM
FORMER POLICE FORCES OF ENGLAND & WALES
(DEFUNCT POLICE FORCE ITEMS ONLY). Donate? Sell? Collections or single items.

Documents, photos, helmets, insignia, decorated truncheons, tipstaffs, handcuffs etc. E-mail:- [email protected] My name is Ross Mather. Retired veteran officer having 30 years operational service with South Wales Police. I am a member of The Police History Society, a registered charity, the aim of which is to educate the public about our British police history. Collect any old police memorabilia

from obsolete police forces of Wales and England. As an advisor and police historian, I have appeared on programmes on the BBC, ITV and SKY. Consultant advisor to museums such as The National Museum of Wales. Former volunteer Curator / Custodian to a well known police museum. Ambassador Champion for the Welsh Government sponsored website - 'The People's Collection Wales', owner of website and collection 'The British Police Helmet' and Facebook site 'Virtual Museum of Police in Wales'. For several decades I have studied history of Welsh Police forces, during which time, I have collected memorabilia and created a highly respected, free to use facility for reference and research. The collection itself is 'real' and it is quite substantial. The 'Virtual Museum' - is just that. Until I can find a permanent means of displaying the collection, it can only be achieved successfully online. If you wish to find a good home for that old police item or collection - look no further. Please get in touch and if possible, attach a photo / list. I will get back to you - usually within a few hours. I always cover postage / courier charges in full. If necessary, can travel to collect larger items. E-mail me at:- [email protected]

Alexandra (Newport & South Wales) Docks and Railway Company Police.
12/07/2026

Alexandra (Newport & South Wales) Docks and Railway Company Police.

A little while ago I posted an article about Police Sergeant Devereux of the Neath Borough Police. With thanks to Caroly...
10/07/2026

A little while ago I posted an article about Police Sergeant Devereux of the Neath Borough Police. With thanks to Carolyn for sending a copy of this photo from a newspaper article that she came across, dated May 1915, showing Neath Borough officers, including P.C. Charles Edward Devereux .

From the collection is this photograph showing a Mutual Aid detachment of officers from the Newport Borough Police at Cl...
08/07/2026

From the collection is this photograph showing a Mutual Aid detachment of officers from the Newport Borough Police at Clydach Vale (Rhondda Valleys) during the coal mining strike of 1910 / 1911.

Arrival today, to add to the collection - is this tipstaff. Could also possibly be a small ceremonial mace carried at ci...
08/07/2026

Arrival today, to add to the collection - is this tipstaff. Could also possibly be a small ceremonial mace carried at civil ceremonies. It measures 12 inches in length. Has the faint trace of the letters V R. (Victoria Regina) at the top.....so quite likely Victorian in origin. Unfortunately, no information regarding its origins.

Mutual Aid* detachment of Plymouth City Police officers on duty at Abercynon, Glamorgan, during the 1926 General Strike....
07/07/2026

Mutual Aid* detachment of Plymouth City Police officers on duty at Abercynon, Glamorgan, during the 1926 General Strike.

*Mutual Aid for police is a formal arrangement where law enforcement agencies provide personnel, equipment, and support to one another during emergencies or major incidents that exceed a single agency’s capacity.

From the collection is this rare senior officers cap badge. As can be seen from the photo, its a high quality cloth and ...
06/07/2026

From the collection is this rare senior officers cap badge. As can be seen from the photo, its a high quality cloth and bullion wire badge worn only by senior officers (Inspector and above) of the former Glamorgan Constabulary. Photographs in the collection show that these cap badges were worn through the late Victorian / 19th century and into the early years of the 20th century. It measures 3 inches wide by 2 inches high.

From the collection are these two very rare decorated truncheons, purchased together about 36 years ago from a local spe...
05/07/2026

From the collection are these two very rare decorated truncheons, purchased together about 36 years ago from a local specialist memorabilia dealer.

1. 19th century painted / decorated truncheon of the Newport Harbour Commission Police. Painted Victorian crown and around the mid shaft, the letters N H C.

Created in 1836, Newport Harbour Commission was a body created by Statute and covered by the Newport (South Wales) Harbour Acts and Orders 1836. The construction of the first docks was completed in 1842 (Old Town Dock).

2. Very rare painted / decorated canal police Constable's truncheon. Paintwork details show VR1....which indicates being from the very early in the reign of Queen Victoria c.1840. The word 'CANAL' is painted below the VR1.

As theft and pilfering was always a problem, canal companies employed their own policemen.

The canals were very profitable. Coal traffic rose from 3,500 tons in 1796 to 150,000 tons in 1809, but the arrival of the railways brought about serious decline, and in the 1850s, several schemes to abandon the canals were proposed.

The Monmouthshire Canal Company, which had become the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company under an Act of Parliament obtained in 1845, bought out the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal Company in 1865, but the move came too late, and the Monmouthshire Canal gradually closed.

Control of the canals passed to the Great Western Railway in 1880, and they were consequently nationalised in 1948

From the collection are three very rare police decorated truncheons (numbered 5, 6 and 14) to the. Taff Vale Railway Com...
03/07/2026

From the collection are three very rare police decorated truncheons (numbered 5, 6 and 14) to the. Taff Vale Railway Company.

The TVR was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff.

It was opened in stages in 1840 and 1841.

Like several other railway companys of the day, it had its own police force.

Another from the decorated truncheon section of the collection which includes a number from independent Welsh Railway co...
03/07/2026

Another from the decorated truncheon section of the collection which includes a number from independent Welsh Railway company police force.

A rare Victorian / 19th century example to the former Rhymney Railway Company.

Quite heavy, it measures 18 inches in length. The decoration is all hand painted, and shows the skill of the 'artist'.

The reason for the painted decoration, was that in addition to being a weapon of defence, it was a 'pictorial sign' so to speak, displaying the holder’s authority....in this case on behalf of the Railway Company (RR).

At the top of the truncheon is the number '18', which is likely to be the Constables collar number, and suggests a police force having at least 18 men.

A Bill for the Rhymney Railway went before Parliament during the 1854 session and received Royal assent on the 24th July 1854 - as the 'Rhymney Railway Act 1854'.

From the collection is this decorated truncheon relating to the police of the the South Wales Railway (Welsh: Rheilfford...
03/07/2026

From the collection is this decorated truncheon relating to the police of the the South Wales Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd De Cymru). It is one of several rare Welsh railway company truncheons in the collection, including ones from the Taff Vale Railway (TVR) and Rhymney Railway (RR).

The SWR was a main line railway which opened in stages from 1850, connecting the Great Western Railway from Gloucester to South Wales. The company amalgamated with the Great Western Railway in 1863, and as such, the truncheon can be accurately dated as being between 1850 and 1863.

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