Lovelocks, Lovelucks and Law Enforcement



We know that over time several Lovelocks, and rather fewer Lovelucks, have fallen foul of one law or another. We have documented the stories of several on the Crime and Punishment page of this Web Site. Fortunately, so far as we know, only one had to pay the ultimate price for his transgression although we do know that at least four others were capitally convicted but mercifully had their sentences commuted. There were at least two men – one a Lovelock, the other a Loveluck – unfortunate enough to die whilst incarcerated, but it seems that none of the ladies ever suffered that fate. We also know of one Lovelock who was apparently falsely imprisoned, and his story can also be found on the Crime and Punishment page.

On the other side of the law, however, there were few documented Lovelocks or Lovelucks who became members of a Police Force. The history of law enforcement in England and Wales is an extensive one, but agencies such as we are familiar with today were not created until the nineteenth century. The Metropolitan Police was founded on 29 September 1829 but it was not until the Municipal Corporations Act was passed in 1835 that Royal Boroughs were required to create paid police forces. The Rural Constabulary Act followed in 1839 and this allowed county areas to create police forces, Wiltshire being the first county to do so.

By 1851, according to a Wikipedia article, there were already around 13,000 policemen in England and Wales, and the numbers must have grown substantially after that.

The few Lovelocks (one also known as Loveluck) that served are listed below, together with the details we have of their careers. Nobody born a Loveluck in the sources consulted so far seems to have embarked upon law enforcement in the UK as a career.

There were seven Lovelocks and one Loveluck who served in Police Forces outside of the UK, or in support roles within the UK, and their details may be accessed here.

Albert Edward Lovelock Although a member of the Beckenham, Kent Tree Albert was born on 2 August 1902 in Colchester, Essex. His next appearance in our documentation is the 1911 Census, by which time his parents, William and Eliza, had taken Albert and their 2 other sons to Llanwonno, a hamlet high up in the valleys of South Glamorgan in Wales, where William had become a Miner's Labourer Underground. But mining was not the life for Albert and in 1921 he was back in Essex, in the Warley Barracks in Brentwood having joined the Footguards. He must have made a Short Term Enlistment because by the time he married Elizabeth Margaretta Lock at Leafield, Oxfordshire on 15 October 1927 he was already a Police Constable, at the Police Institute in The Strand, London. Leafield was Elizabeth's home village which is presumably why they had 3 sons baptised there in 1929, 1932 and 1934 rather than in Barnsbury, North London where they were living. Elizabeth died at the shockingly young age of 35 and was buried at Leafield in 1938. That may or may not have had anything to do with Albert leaving the Police Force, but the 1939 Register records him as a widower living in Romney Marsh, Kent, employed as a Boilerman. With 3 young boys it is hardly surprising that Albert married Ada Alice Tanner in 1940, although whether the boys rejoined their father is not known - the eldest was with his maternal grandmother in 1939 and his younger brothers may be the two closed records that were also part of the household record. Presumably Albert and Ada were together until Albert died, somewhere in the Canterbury Registration District in Kent in 1971.
Alfred John Lovelock Alfred was a member of the Epsom Fragment and was born on 23 May 1877 in Epsom, Surrey. Like a lot of young boys he started out as an Errand Boy, and as a 14-year-old John Lovelock was so recorded in 1891. On 27 June 1898 he joined the Metropolitan Police Force at New Scotland Yard and was appointed to E, S and R Divisions. On the 8 September 1900 he married Ellen Chenery, and was a Constable living in Clerkenwell in North London. He was also recorded as a Constable in 1901, living with Ellen in Clerkenwell, but they were in Epsom on 28 July that year for the baptism of their daughter Gladys Amelia. Daughters Elsie and Lucy arrived in 1903 and 1905 respectively whilst Alfred was still serving as a Constable, but by 1911 he had been promoted to Sergeant and the family, less Lucy who had died when only a few weeks old, were living in Chislehurst, Kent. They were still there in 1921, Alfred being recorded as simply 'Police Officer'. He retired as a Station Sergeant on 1 July 1923, on a pension of £194 2s 2d per annum and by 1939 was a widowed, retired Police Officer living with daughter Elsie in Woolwich. Tragically he died at The Railway Station in Ilkley, Yorkshire on 6 June 1960, presumably whilst on holiday.
Daniel Lovelock Daniel was a member of the Lyneham Line, born on 9 January 1908 in Peterstone Super Ely, Glamorgan, Wales, the nephew of Jacob William below. We only know of his Police service through an entry in the 1939 Register which shows Daniel as a Police Constable with his first wife, Muriel Maud Williams, in Lymington Avenue, Wood Green, Middlesex. He married Grace Muriel Summers in 1962, and died in the South Glamorgan Registration District in 1974.
Edward Lovelock Edward was a member of the Kingsclere Line, born in Wootton St Lawrence, Hampshire on 11 February 1882. Confusingly in 1891 his parents James and Elizabeth gave as his birthplace Basingstoke, Hampshire, which is odd because they were married in Wootton St Lawrence, and it was Elizabeth's birthplace. In 1901 Edward himself seems to have given his birthplace as Ebworth, Hampshire, which does not exist. He may well have meant Ibworth, which is certainly where his father and six siblings were born. Be that as it may, in 1901 Edward was a Horsekeeper working for one of the Railway Companies, and boarding in Lambeth, London. On 27 March 1905 he joined the 2nd Division of the Hampshire Constabulary in Portsmouth Dockyard. He married Margery King in 1907, but in 1911, having already lost Margery who had died in 1909, but not before she had produced a son John Albert, Edward was a Constable in the Metropolitan Police and living in the Police Station in New Street, Marylebone. John Albert was with his grandparents in Ibworth. In 1921 Edward (recorded as Edwin) was living in the Police Section House in the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, still a Constable and still unmarried, whilst John Albert was with his mother's parents in Essex. Edward resigned on 31 March 1930 on a pension of £153 13s 5d, but in 1939 was recorded as a Constable in the Police Reserve and was lodging in Lambeth. He was aged 57 then so must have been coming to the end of his police career. He eventually died somewhere in the Portsmouth Registration District in 1962.
George Lovelock George was a member of the Kintbury Tree, born in Courage, Berkshire and baptised in Chieveley on 9 July 1826. His father William was a farmer, of 50 acres at the time of the 1851 Census, but farming was not George's choice. He was a Grocer, in Courage. But grocering in Courage was obviously not where George's ambitions lay and by 1861 he had not only acquired a wife - Clara Louisa Barnes - and a son - George William (a daughter Blanche Charlotte having died in 1859) - but he had joined L Division of the Metropolitan Police and had moved to Lambeth in Surrey. However, at the age of 42 his police career came to an abrupt end on 2 May 1868 when, according to Metropolitan Police records in The National Archives, he died of Smallpox, one of only three Lovelocks to die that way.
George Lovelock George was a member of the Compton Tree, born in Winchester, Hampshire on 12 September 1894, the son of George, a Master Baker, and Kate. By the time he was 16 George junior had also become a baker, but in 1921 he was not recorded with his parents, indeed he seems to have escaped being recorded at all. He resurfaced in 1923 to marry Edith Annie Chappell in Washingborough, Lincolnshire and was already a Police Constable by then. He was still serving when the 1939 Register was compiled, living with Edith and their two sons in Billingborough, Lincolnshire. George and Edith stayed in Lincolnshire, George being buried with Edith in Billingborough when he died in 1961.
Harry Lovelock Harry was a member of the Wallingford Line, born in Wokingham, Berkshire on 19 August 1901. His father, also named Harry, was a Saddler and Harness Maker, but young Harry declined to follow in his father's footsteps. By 1921 he had become a Plumber's Mate, but that was a trade he did not stick at. By 1939 he had married Florence Lily Aldworth from Swindon and had risen to the rank of Sergeant in the Berkshire Constabulary. He, Florence and his father were living in the Police Station in Easthampstead. It would seem that Harry was later transferred to Bracknell as when his father died in 1945 he was said to be 'of Poice Staion, Bracknell'. Harry junior died, without issue, somewhere in the Kingsclere Registration District in 1972.
Jacob William Lovelock Jacob was a member of the Lyneham Line, born in Peterstone Super Ely, Glamorgan, Wales on 29 March 1874. He began his working life as a Gardener but by 1901 he had joined the Glamorgan Police Force and was serving as a Constable in Barry. By 1911 he had moved to Bridgend, and was the Constable In Charge at that Police Station on the night of the Census. Further promotion followed and he was one of four Police Sergeants and eight Police Constables serving under Inspector John H Hale in Margam. He retired some time before September 1939 and died in 1941. Although born and registered as a Lovelock he was recorded as Loveluck in 1911, 1921, 1939 and at his marriage in 1929 to Jenny Mordecai.
John Lovelock John was from the Kingsclere Line and was born on 2 January 1888 in the hamlet of Ibworth near Andover, Hampshire. His father, James, started work as an Agricultural Labourer but by 1881 had taken up the trade once pursued by his father - Thatcher. James possibly had a reasonable income, reasonable enough that son John was still unemployed at the age of 13. We do not know when John entered full-time employment, but it was presumably before the April-June quarter of 1910 when he married Kate Wisker. The 1911 Census found them in Marylebone in London, with John recording himself as a Police Constable in the Metropolitan Police. He was still a Constable in 1921, by which time he and Kate, with a family of 4 children, had taken up residence in Chingford, Essex. He and Kate were still there in 1939, and he was recorded as simply a 'Police Officer'. They moved to Surrey some time after that, and John died there in 1966.
John Thomas Lovelock John, from the Hampshire-Suffolk-Rutland-Herefordshire Tree, makes a very brief appearance as a Police Officer. He was born in Winchester, Hampshire in late 1844 and baptised in Chilcomb just outside of the city on 10 November. In 1861 he had a job as a Porter, although in what business we do not know. Shortly after that he became a Grocer living in Micheldever, Hampshire and it was there that he married Sarah Susan Phillis on 25 December 1865. Obviously the grocery trade was not for him - he joined the Hampshire Constabulary and was serving as a Constable in Romsey, Hampshire at the time of the 1871 Census. Alas, he was not to enjoy a long career in the Force as he died somewhere in the Whitchurch Registration District in Hampshire on 20 November 1873, aged only 29.'The Berkshire Chronicle' reported on 29 November: Mr Spencer Clarke held an inquest on Thursday week, at the White Hart Inn, Overton, on the body of John Lovelock, a police-constable in the Hampshire Constabulary, who died suddenly on the previous Wednesday morning. It would seem that Lovelock on Tuesday evening went on duty at six o'clock, and was heard to return by his wife at one next morning. When he arrived in the house she spoke to him, and he replied. Shortly afterwards, however, she heard a noise, and, going downstairs, found her husband dead on the floor. A verdict of "Death from an epileptic fit" was returned.
Thomas Lovelock Thomas, from the Swallowfield-Heckfield-Worplesdon Tree, was born in Byfleet, Surrey on 29 October 1874, the son of Elijah and Lucy. At the age of 16 he was working as a Gardener's Assistant, possibly with his father who was recorded in each Census from 1881 to 1901 as a Gardener. Gardening for a living was not to Thomas' taste and he joined V (Wandsworth) Division of the Metropolitan Police on 19 October 1906. In 1901 he was one of 9 Constables living in the Police Station at Kingston On Thames with Inspector Edward West. In 1903 he married Ada Ellen Eliza Hunter and by 1911 they had 2 sons and, together with Thomas' mother, were living in Bonner Hill, Norbiton. Apart from Lucy, who had died in 1915, they were all still there in 1921. Thomas resigned on 24 October 1921, on a pension of £153 13s 5d per annum. The 1939 Register records he, Ada, their daughter-in-law Caroline and granddaughter Mary Stella living in Sawbridgeworth in Essex, Thomas being recorded as a Police Pensioner. It was not until the 1919 Police Act was passed that pensions for retired policemen were guaranteed. Before that they had been entirely discretionary.