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Photograph of two policemen with a man on a stretcher, 1884 (Catalogue reference: COPY 1/369)

This is a brief guide to help you with your research. Only the records of the Metropolitan Police, the Royal Irish Constabulary and a few relating to the Transport Police are held at The National Archives. Surviving records of other police forces are held either by local archives or the relevant force. Not all police staff records have survived.

  • What do I need to know before I start?

    • Try to find out:

      • which police force the officer served in
      • the dates of joining and leaving the police force
      • the police officer's warrant number

  • What records can I see online?

    • Metropolitan police registers (1829-1958)

      Search Metropolitan police registers in MEPO 4/31-32 and MEPO 4/352-477 if you have the officer's warrant number. The records are arranged in order of warrant numbers.

      If you do not know the warrant number, search the Metropolitan police registers of leavers in MEPO 4/339-351 (arranged by date) and registers of joiners in MEPO 4/333-338 (arranged alphabetically within ranges of warrant numbers).

  • What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?

    • Metropolitan police entry books (1829-1836)

      Browse the entry book in HO 65/26. This records is particularly useful if you do not know the officer's warrant number.

    • Metropolitan Police pension records (1852-1993)

      Search the Catalogue in MEPO 21/1-19  for records of Metropolitan Police pensioners who retired or resigned between 1852 and 1890 and who received a police pension.

    • Browse the Catalogue in MEPO 21/21-210 for records after 1890, which are arranged by date of retirement. This may be found by referring to the registers of leavers in MEPO 4/339-351 referred to above.

    • Metropolitan Police Orders (1829-1989)

      Browse the Catalogue in MEPO 7 for Police Orders - items of staff news, including promotions, awards, retirements or dismissals. Note that the records are closed for 50 years. If you already know the date of a particular event these might give you more information.

    • Royal Irish Constabulary service records (1816-1922)

      Browse in HO 184 for service records of the Royal Irish Constabulary from 1816 to 1922. Find the service number in J Herlihy, The Royal Irish Constabulary: a complete alphabetical list of Officers and men, 1816-1922 (Four Courts Press, 1999), then use the Catalogue to find the appropriate piece number in HO 184.

  • What records can I find in other archives and organisations?

    • British Transport Police

      Contact the British Transport Police; the organisation holds several thousand staff record cards dating back to the 1860s.

    • The City of London Police registers (1832 onwards)

      Consult registers of The City of London Police. These list every member of the force since warrant numbers were introduced in 1832, together with personal files on 95% of officers who have served since that date. They are held by the Corporation of London Record Office.

    • Local police forces

      Contact the relevant police force for records other than those of the Metropolitan Police or the Royal Irish Constabulary. To find an archive search our ARCHON database.

  • What other resources will help me find information?

    • Websites

      Browse low resolution photographs of Metropolitan police service records on Flickr through Your Archives website. Please note that the contents of Your Archives and Flickr is contributed by users.

      Look through the history pages of the Metropolitan Police website for historical background on the force as well as information on the Met's own archives, which include records of individual officers.

    • Books

      Consult The Royal Irish Constabulary. A Complete Alphabetical List of Officers and men, 1816-1922, by J Herlihy (Four Courts Press, 1999).

  • The National Archives is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Related guides

Did you know?

Police forces as we now understand them did not exist until the 19th century. Before that policing was carried out by locally employed watchmen, constables and magistrates.

The first modern police force in England was the Metropolitan Police Force, created in 1829. Provincial police forces in England and Wales did not begin until after the County Police Act of 1839.

The Irish Constabulary (Ireland) Act 1836 created a single, unified police force responsible for the whole of Ireland, except Dublin. In 1867 it was renamed the Royal Irish Constabulary. This was disbanded in 1922. From 1922 to 2001 the police force in Northern Ireland was the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

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