Railway Police Superintendents’ Annual Conference at Windsor 1897

A particularly interesting photograph has come to light. A large sepia photo mounted on stiff card, it shows the thirteen railway police superintendents who attended the annual conference at Windsor in 1897. It is complete with the names of the superintendents and the police forces they represented. The photo was donated to the BTPHG in 2010 by retired officer Graham Isaacs. Graham was given it by a Home Office force colleague attending the Bramshill Police College. The officer had not long moved to a house in Reading and had discovered the photo in the attic of his new home.

Not only is it a remarkable Victorian photo, but it has much historical value as well. One of the thirteen is Detective Superintendent Elijah Copping (second from left, front row) of the London & North Western Railway Police, who not only helped investigate the murder of Thomas Hibbs in 1902 (see Policing the Canals), but had also taken part in the investigation into the murder of Detective Sergeant Robert Kidd in 1895, two years before the photo was taken, and helped to bring his killers to justice.
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The names of the officers are- Back row- L to R: Mr. Edwards (North London Railway), George Robinson (London & South Western Railway), Mr. Hutton, James Saunders (Great Western Railway), Mr. Newman, Mr.Turpin (London Brighton & South Coast Railway).
Front row L to R: Wm Robinson (Great Eastern Railway), E. Copping (London & North Western Railway), James Allan (North British Railway), John Sharp (Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway), George Darrel (North Eastern Railway), Harry Carr (Midland Railway Police), Rd. Parrish (Great Northern Railway).