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Metropolitan Police Records of Service

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1 Introduction
2 Numerical Registers
3 Alphabetical Register
4 Alphabetical Registers of Joiners
5 Attestation Ledgers
6 Registers Of Leavers
7 Certificates
8 Records of Police Pensioners
9 The National Archives Podcast Series
10 Further Guide To Sources
11 External Sites
12 See also

[edit] Introduction

There are a number of records held at The National Archives which relate to officers in the Metropolitan Police Service, some of which are listed below. You can find further information as to records at the bottom of the page.

[edit] Numerical Registers

These indexes cover the first 3,247 officers to join in the years 1829 and 1830.

Reference	Warrant No. Coverage	Transcribed Index?	Photos Available?
MEPO 4/31	1 - 1780	No	Yes
MEPO 4/32	1781 - 3247	No	Yes

A transcribed list of the entries in these documents can be found on the History by the Yard website.

[edit] Alphabetical Register

This document contains the details officers who joined in the period 1829-1836. It contains details of the officers date of joining, warrant number and name; there is also occasionally the date of promotion, former warrant number and date of leaving.

Reference	Coverage	Warrant No. Coverage	Transcribed Index?	Photos Available?
HO 65/26	1829 - 1836	1 to 12,337	No	Yes

[edit] Alphabetical Registers of Joiners

Please note that these volumes also contain the date of leaving for some officers.

Reference	Coverage	Warrant No. Coverage	Transcribed Index?	Photos?
MEPO 4/333	1830 - 1842	4988 - 19892	No	No
MEPO 4/334	1843 - 1857	19889 - 35804	No	No
MEPO 4/335	1878 - 1891	62845 - 77318	No	No
MEPO 4/336	1892 - 1902	77319 - 88811	No	No
MEPO 4/337	1902 - 1911	88812 - 100006	No	No
MEPO 4/338	1911 - 1933	100007 - 123091	No	No

[edit] Attestation Ledgers

The Attestation Ledgers cover members joining between 1869 and 1958. They list the date the officer started, into what division they were attested and also includes the officers signature.

Reference	Coverage	Warrant No. Coverage	Transcribed Index?	Photos?
MEPO 4/352	1869 - 1876	51491 - 60050	Partial	Yes
MEPO 4/353	1876 - 1882	60051 - 66532	No	Yes
MEPO 4/354	1882 - 1888	66533 - 73800	No	Yes
MEPO 4/355	1888 - 1899	73801 - 84816	No	Yes
MEPO 4/356	1899 - 1909	84817 - 96999	No	Yes
MEPO 4/357	1909 - 1920	97000 - 109199	No	Yes
MEPO 4/358	1920 - 1931	109200 - 121400	No	Yes
MEPO 4/359	1931 - 1948	121401 - 133599	No	Yes
MEPO 4/360	1948 - 1958	133600 - 146379	No	Yes

[edit] Registers Of Leavers

Covering the years 1889 to 1947, these records represent almost 60 years of officers leaving the force. To find out more about the certificates that officers might have received on leaving please see Certificates below.

Reference	Coverage	Transcribed Index?	Photos Available?
MEPO 4/339	01 Mar 1889 - 30 Sep 1892	Yes	Yes
MEPO 4/340	01 Oct 1892 - 26 Oct 1897	Yes	Yes
MEPO 4/341	27 Oct 1897 - 15 Feb 1902	Yes	Yes
MEPO 4/342	16 Feb 1902 - 24 Nov 1906	Yes	Yes
MEPO 4/343	24 Nov 1906 - 25 Feb 1911	Yes	Yes
MEPO 4/344	27 Feb 1911 - 02 Aug 1915	Yes	Yes
MEPO 4/345	02 Aug 1915 - 08 Sep 1919	Yes	Yes
MEPO 4/346	08 Sep 1919 - 21 Dec 1922	Yes	Yes
MEPO 4/347	21 Dec 1922 - 31 Dec 1926	Yes	Yes
MEPO 4/348	09 Jan 1926 - 02 Oct 1931	No *	Yes
MEPO 4/349	04 Oct 1931 - 20 Dec 1936	No *	Yes
MEPO 4/350	20 Dec 1936 - 13 May 1945	No *	Yes
MEPO 4/351	13 May 1945 - 05 Jan 1947	No	Yes

(*) Please note that you can also find a rough list of books MEPO 4/348 to part of MEPO 4/350 on Scribd.

Officers might have left with a pension and these therefore can serve as a partial index to those volumes. The transcriptions provided are part of the project Metropolitan Police Records Project.

[edit] Certificates

Copies exist 1889-1909 (MEPO 4/361-477) and issue of certificates is noted in the Register of Leavers 1889-1947 (as above).

Certificates were made out by the Central Office of Records (formerly A3, now D2 divisions) on the first Monday after an officer retired. They could be sent by post or collected by the officer from his former station. Hence they are noted as being sent to the division when they were to be collected. The classification used in the Registers of Leavers is as follows:

1. Excellent
2. Very good
3. Good
4. Open certificate i.e. no comment to make.

Now, the classification remains the same, but 1. is 'exemplary' and 4. is used for all officers who have served for less than 2 years.

[edit] Records of Police Pensioners

Officers could be eligible for a pension for service in the force. To find out more please look at MEPO 21. Information about what the pension records contain can be found on the Metropolitan Police pension record details page.

[edit] The National Archives Podcast Series

Listen to the podcast, The Metropolitan Police: its creation and records of service, where Chris Heather gives an introduction to the documents held at The National Archives.