page_title: Frank Richardson (police officer)
section_title: Hereford
hierarchical_section_title: Frank Richardson (police officer) / Hereford
caption_attribution_description: English: Chief Constable of Hereford Frank Richardson in full dress uniform.
context_page_description: Frank Richardson KPM was an English policeman. He joined the Birmingham City Police in 1873 as a constable third class. Within one year he was promoted to constable second class and one year later to constable first class. In 1878 he was promoted to sergeant within the same force, and in 1882 he applied to be chief constable of Hereford, Herefordshire and was successful. He remained in this post, receiving the King's Police Coronation Medal in 1912 and being decorated at Buckingham Palace in 1917. He was at that time the "Most Senior Chief Constable of England" He had married in 1870 and had nine children of which seven were sons with only one not joining the police service. In total he and his family provided 176 years service to the constabularies of England and South Africa. Between 1903 and 1920 there were three Chief Constable Richardsons in office. He was also the chief fire brigade officer of Hereford, adding many innovations to the fire service.
context_section_description: The Chief Constable's accommodation was a large one-storey house on its own grounds, known as Security Villa, DeLacey Street within the City of Hereford Police Complex. This complex of buildings, built in the late 1880s, was very austere without the usual Victorian design extras. The complex also housed the fire station, the firemen's married accommodation, the single constables' accommodation, the police station, the magistrates' court and administration offices. The Hereford Police Station was a former gaol in Gaol Street, Hereford.  It was built in 1841 and occupied the whole of the first floor of the building, the magistrates' court (which has a wide glass roof) and the court administration offices occupied the ground floor. The basement housed six cells, a restraining cell and police offices which were used when the court was sitting. A short staircase led from here to the witness box in the courtroom. Chief Constable Richardson in his new position had a large range of duties ranging from the licensing of hackney carriages to being inspector of contagious diseases and a requirement to always appear in uniform.
  City fire departments were in their infancy in 1883 and for an individual to lead both the police and fire departments was an innovation in Hereford. Soon after his arrival, he wrote to the Mayor of Hereford referring to the possible appointment of seven men as firemen. Up until this time policemen carried out fire-fighting, and he wanted a new situation whereby if policemen arrived first at a fire, they would fight the fire but give way to the firemen when they arrived. The letter also suggests that both the police officers and the seven new firemen men should receive training as fire-fighters. This was agreed by the Watch Committee of Hereford City Council. After further discussion, the seven fire fighters were integrated into the police force, using them as constables when there were no fires to be fought. Richardson also introduced a new grey uniform for the fire fighters. A post boy was employed as a runner; one of his duties was to run to the Merton Meadows or the Green Dragon Public House in Broad Street, Hereford, to collect two horses to pull a steam driven fire engine named the Nell Gwynne. A charge of five pounds five shillings was made for attendance of the steam fire engine. The fire station had a bell which was tolled to call the fireman out. The seven firemen each had houses in DeLacey Street and electric alarm bells were installed. The Chief Constable also had an electric bell installed at Security Villa which alerted him of a fire. Also a horse and gig cart from the Security Villa's own small stable was made ready by a policeman. In later years, a taxi would automatically arrive at the front door, again, summoned by the duty police officer. Richardson took great pride in his creation. Apart from the grey uniform, red piping was later added, plus three sets of fire headgear, boots and axes and a motto "Always Ready". In 1885 300 yards of canvas hose, couplings and stand pipes and a "telescopic fire escape" were added to the equipment.  This made the use of the old leather buckets obsolete. He distributed hand-held "fire extinguishers", patented in 1868, to public and larger buildings. These contained about a gallon of water in a sealed glass container within a smaller metal canister. There was a weak point created at the top of the glass and the idea was to throw it on the fire where it would spray water. In 1907 a severe fire broke out at Rotherwas House, a country gentleman's mansion with an historic chapel, just outside the city limits. Richardson broke the councils rules by rushing to the scene and prevented the blaze from spreading. Horses pulled fire engines in Hereford until 1908 when a motorized unit was purchased. As a further refinement the 1912 "list of beats" for the city police showed that certain city centre night beats were designated "fire escape beats". These were the areas with a higher risk of fire and ensured a rapid response for the heart of the city. This arrangement conti
caption: Chief Constable of Hereford Frank Richardson in full dress uniform.
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