Ernest Frank Richardson

Ernest Frank Richardson (1871–1952) was a Chief Constable of Salisbury, Wiltshire (UK). He joined the Police Force in 1893 at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and very rapidly achieved promotion to Chief Constable. He came from a family many of whom served in the Police Force, and three family members served concurrently in the office of Chief Constable, at Salisbury, Hereford and Halifax. Early career Ernest Frank Richardson was the first son of Frank and Mary (née Taylor) Richardson. He was born in Birmingham on 2 January 1872. From about 1882 to about 1887 he attended the Broomy Hill Academy in Hereford. He then moved to Birmingham and served in the City of Birmingham Police, Detective's Office initially as a police clerk in the late 1880s, and then joined the Gloucestershire Police Force in Cheltenham in 1891. Within three months he was posted to the City of Gloucester on a special assignment. In 1899 he was promoted to Station Sergeant and later Chief Clerk to the Deputy Chief Constable of Gloucestershire and was often involved with notable criminal cases. In particular he became involved in standardising and indexing the early use of fingerprinting. Chief Constable, Salisbury In November 1903 he was the successful candidate for the position of Chief Constable of Salisbury City Police. A reception was held for him at the City Police Court when he made his first public appearance. One of the first actions he undertook as Chief Constable was to purchase bicycles for the constables and sergeants of the force, to make them more mobile, and then to ensure that every officer took a course in firstaid. A photograph of the Salisbury Police Force was taken in 1905 with the police officers individually named. June 1906 saw the Chief Constable head a large parade on horseback through the city streets for the First Hospital Carnival Parade. This was a charity event which became an annual occurrence. In July 1906 he was applauded by his superiors when he organised the Police, Fire and hospital Medical departments into a joint rescue team after an horrific train crash in the city railway station. Passenger lives were saved and injuries treated quickly because his men were able to get to the scene quickly by bicycle and provide first aid on the spot. There was a Board of Trade report published at the end of July 1906. Most of the dead and injured were Americans from a transatlantic liner who disembarked at Plymouth, Devon, to go London.