Shirley Becke
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Shirley Becke
Shirley Cameron Becke (née Jennings; 29 April 1917 – 25 October 2011) was a British police officer. She was the fourth and last commander of the London Metropolitan Police's A4 Branch (Women Police), from 1966 to 1973, and the first woman officer in the United Kingdom to reach chief officer rank when she was promoted to commander in 1969. Early life Shirley Cameron Jennings was born in Chiswick, London, the daughter of a gas engineer. She was educated at Ealing Grammar School for Girls and followed in her father's footsteps, training as a gas engineer at Westminster Polytechnic from 1935, and in 1939 became the first woman to pass the Higher Grade Examination of the Institution of Gas Engineers. She then worked as a gas engineer for two years. Police career Becke joined the Metropolitan Police as a constable in 1941, intending her service to be purely for the duration of the Second World War, but stayed in the force after the war. In 1945 she joined the Criminal Inve ...
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Commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. Commander is also a generic term for an officer commanding any armed forces unit, for example "platoon commander", "brigade commander" and "squadron commander". In the police, terms such as "borough commander" and "incident commander" are used. Commander as a naval and air force rank Commander is a rank used in navies but is very rarely used as a rank in armies. The title, originally "master and commander", originated in the 18th century to describe naval officers who commanded ships of war too large to be commanded by a lieutenant but too small to warrant the assignment of a post-captain and (before about 1770) a sailing master; the commanding officer served as his own master. In practice, these were usually unrated sloops-of-war o ...
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Detective Sergeant
Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other units that draw their heritage from the British light infantry. Its origin is the Latin , 'one who serves', through the French term . The term ''sergeant'' refers to a non-commissioned officer placed above the rank of a corporal, and a police officer immediately below a lieutenant in the US, and below an inspector in the UK. In most armies, the rank of sergeant corresponds to command of a squad (or section). In Commonwealth armies, it is a more senior rank, corresponding roughly to a platoon second-in-command. In the United States Army, sergeant is a more junior rank corresponding to a squad- (12 person) or platoon- (36 person) leader. More senior non-commissioned ranks are often variations on sergeant, for example staff sergeant ...
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Women's Royal Voluntary Service
The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1938 by Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, as a British women's organisation to recruit women into the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) services to help in the event of War. Objectives On 16 May 1938, the British government set out the objectives of the Women's Voluntary Service for Civil Defence: It was seen “as the enrolment of women for Air Raid Precaution Services of Local Authorities, to help to bring home to every household what air attack may mean, and to make known to every household n the countrywhat it can do to protect itself and the community.” In the words of Home Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare, "as regards their civil defence functions, the Minis ...
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Sheila Ward
Sheila Ward (1936–2019) was a British police officer and the first female officer in the Metropolitan Police in London to hold the post of station inspector, commanding a police station in Kings Cross. She was appointed following the disbandment of the separate Women's Branch and the integration of women into the general force in 1973. She ended her career as a chief superintendent in command of the Community Relations Branch. Ward was also a self-defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ... instructor. Footnotes 1936 births Women Metropolitan Police officers 2019 deaths Metropolitan Police officers British police officers {{UK-law-enforcement-bio-stub ...
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Queen's Police Medal
The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own honours systems. The medal was established on 7 July 1909 as the King's Police Medal (KPM), initially inspired by the need to recognise the gallantry of the police officers involved in the Tottenham Outrage. Renamed the King's Police and Fire Services Medal (KPFSM) in 1940, it was replaced on 19 May 1954 by the Queen's Police Medal (QPM), when a separate Queen's Fire Service Medal was also instituted. The current award was renamed the King's Police Medal following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022 and the accession of King Charles III to the throne of the United Kingdom. Between 1909 and 1979, the medal was bestowed 4,070 times, for both gallantry and distinguished service, including dominion and empire awards. A total 54 bars and one se ...
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Chief Superintendent
Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief Superintendent.png, Royal Canadian Mounted Police File:Distintivo Superintendente-Chefe PSP.png, Portuguese Public Security Police File:Chief Superintendant Epaulette.svg, UK police chief superintendent epaulette Chief superintendent by country Australia In Australia, a chief superintendent is senior to the rank of superintendent in all the Australian police forces excepting the Western Australia Police. It is junior to the rank of commander (Victoria Police, South Australia Police) and the rank of assistant commissioner (New South Wales Police, Queensland Police). Officers wear the insignia of a crown over two Bath stars (or in the case of the New South Wales Police, a crown over two stars) the same as a colonel in the army. Canada In the Royal ...
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Superintendent (police)
Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories and in many former British colonies. In some countries, such as Italy, the rank of superintendent is a low rank. Rank insignia of superintendent File:Bangladesh Police SP Rank.svg, File:IT-PS-Sovr.gif, File:SP pakistan 1.png, File:Distintivo Superintendente PSP.png, File:SPF-SO-SUPT.svg, File:Swedish-police-rank-04.svg, File:Supt.svg, United Kingdom Police File:AFPSPR.png, Australian Federal Police File:RCMP Superintendent.png, Canadian Police File:Garda Superintendent.png, Irish Garda Síochána File:경정.svg, South Korean Police File:Superintendent of Police.png, Indian Police Superintendent in several countries Australia In Australia, the rank of superintendent is the next senior rank from chief Inspector and ...
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Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas, urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. With a population of approximately 1.2 million people, Surrey is the 12th-most populous county in England. The most populated town in Surrey is Woking, followed by Guildford. The county is divided into eleven districts with borough status. Between 1893 and 2020, Surrey County Council was headquartered at County Hall, Kingston upon Thames, County Hall, Kingston-upon-Thames (now part of Greater London) but is now based at Woodhatch Place, Reigate. In the 20th century several alterations were made to Surrey's borders, with territory ceded to Greater London upon its creation and some gained from the abolition of Middlesex. Surrey is bordered by Greater London to ...
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South Merstham
Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 25 miles south of Charing Cross and 2 miles south of the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Merstham has community associations, an early medieval church and a football club. Neighbourhoods Old Merstham Old Merstham forms the north and north-west of modern Merstham and is the original village centre. There is a small day school by the railway station, a pub, a few barbershops and a small number of other shops. The Merstham Estate/New Merstham After World War II the London County Council built the Merstham Estate, originally entirely public housing, was built to a geometric layout in the eastern fields. This area has its own parade of shops, the Brook recreation ground, three schools, and a youth/community centre along Radstock Way. Oakley, a small country house, is listed and has Victorian gothic architecture features. South Mer ...
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Vicar
A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English prefix "vice", similarly meaning "deputy". The title appears in a number of Christian ecclesiastical contexts, but also as an administrative title, or title modifier, in the Roman Empire. In addition, in the Holy Roman Empire a local representative of the emperor, perhaps an archduke, might be styled " vicar". Roman Catholic Church The Pope uses the title ''Vicarius Christi'', meaning the ''vicar of Christ''. In Catholic canon law, ''a vicar is the representative of any ecclesiastic'' entity. The Romans had used the term to describe officials subordinate to the praetorian prefects. In the early Christian churches, bishops likewise had their vicars, such as the archdeacons and archpriests, and also the rural priest, the curate who had ...
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Church Of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain by the 3rd century and to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury. The English church renounced papal authority in 1534 when Henry VIII failed to secure a papal annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The English Reformation accelerated under Edward VI's regents, before a brief restoration of papal authority under Queen Mary I and King Philip. The Act of Supremacy 1558 renewed the breach, and the Elizabethan Settlement charted a course enabling the English church to describe itself as both Reformed and Catholic. In the earlier phase of the English Reformation there were both Roman Catholic martyrs and radical Protestant martyrs. The later phases saw the Penal Laws punis ...
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Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. The area was originally part of the manor of Eia and remained largely rural until the early 18th century. It became well known for the annual "May Fair" that took place from 1686 to 1764 in what is now Shepherd Market. Over the years, the fair grew increasingly downmarket and unpleasant, and it became a public nuisance. The Grosvenor family (who became Dukes of Westminster) acquired the land through marriage and began to develop it under the direction of Thomas Barlow. The work included Hanover Square, Berkeley Square and Grosvenor Square, which were surrounded by high-quality houses, and St George's Hanover Square Church. By the end of the 18th century, most of Mayfair was built on with upper-class housing; unlike some nearby areas ...
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