Friday, 10 July 2020

PC Thomas Clifford 1880-85 Sheffield

A few months ago a researcher contacted me to ask for my assistance with regard to the Masons Arms (now known as the Big Tree at Woodseats) and Sanger's circus elephants. 

I posted an article many years ago about the tragic death of the Baldwin's Pony in Sheffield.
and it was the information on this page that he wanted to clarify. Fortunately I was able to assist him in this matter.

This week I received another mail to say that his research has been published

"my biographical piece on my great-great grandfather's time as a police constable has now been published online, as a freely downloadable pdf document, by Derbyshire Family History Society (DFHS). To navigate from the DFHS homepage, select 'Data & Downloads', then 'Downloads Area', and the link 'PC Clifford' appears under 'File categories (Public)'; this opens the page on which the link to the pdf appears  

There is a DIRECT  link for the pdf itself - https://www.dfhs.org.uk/filestore/PC_Thomas_Clifford_1880-85_110.pdf"

Thomas Clifford, was born in 1850 in Hugglescote, north-west Leicestershire. He grew up in Allestree and Darley Abbey, just north of Derby. Thomas spent most of his working life with the Midland Railway, based in Derby. But he also had a brief career with Derbyshire Constabulary, posted to the north of the county on the southern edge of Sheffield. His great-great grandson, John Clifford, has written a biographical piece about Thomas' time as a police constable in the early 1880s.

And what a biography it is. It is a tremendous piece of research which I found fascinating in many respects. Apart from Thomas's career it also details the social and econonic history of Sheffield in the late nineteenth century and contains photos that I have never seen before.