PC Ancliffe

Born in 1884 in Long Sutton, Joseph became a policeman in 1905. He was first stationed in Stamford and moved every couple of years as at the time it was considered best practice to move policemen on so they didn’t become over friendly with the locals. It was while at Caythorpe that Joseph, out on his rounds one evening, came upon a young lady riding her bike without lights. She protested that the lights had blown out – in these days the lights were in fact candles – and having checked that they were still warm, Joseph let her on her way. But not without an invitation to tea! In a quickly developing romance, Mary Ann Blackbourn became Joseph’s wife in 1909. The couple and their family were stationed at Market Deeping in 1914 and their son Leonard was born in Deeping St James that year. Here the couple lived on the riverside where they moored a boat. On one notable occasion their son Claude and daughter Irene were engaged in the innocent game of transferring water from the river into tin cans and letting it run down back to the river. Irene slipped and fell headfirst into the river, quickly becoming submerged. Claude shot to his parents for help but a 14-year-old neighbour saved the day, pulling the child out of the river unceremoniously by her hair!

While in Deeping, Joseph charged two men for drinking offences, four for the use of obscene language and seven for riding their bikes without lights. In February 1914 he was at court in Bourne where he charged Kenneth Dean for shooting rooks on Mr Bennett’s land and carrying a gun without a licence. Mr Dean protested that as he was a scoutmaster he didn’t think he needed one! He was fined 5 shillings and costs.

On another occasion PC Ancliffe was called to the Masons Arms when a fight broke out between two residents and others joined in, so help was needed and other officers attended the scene! All were battered and bruised and the culprits were arrested and spent the night in the cells at Market Deeping before being dealt with at court the next day. In May 1915 Joseph was back in action again when he arrested Harry Sanderson for stealing money from the Walnut Tree, and later Anderson Havercroft of Langtoft was charged for not having a dog licence. Joseph’s last case in the Deepings was heard in Bourne in 1916 when Harry Sanderson and Charles Bingham were charged with stealing one fowl and a quality of eggs from the Mr Neaverson’s farm at Deeping St Nicholas where they were both employed.

David Ancliffe visits the old Market Deeping Police Station from Dalgety Bay Scotland

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