Police Constable Alfred Thomas Rodd.

Jubilee (Police) Medal 1897.

Coronation (Police) Medal 1902.

P.C. A. Rodd, T Division (Hammersmith), Metropolitan Police.

Alfred Thomas Rodd was born in Fremington, near Barnstaple in Devon, on 7th January 1871 but three months later when the 1871 Census was taken, the Rodd family consisting of Thomas (43), his wife Mary Jane (44), three daughters Bessie (8), Elizabeth (5) and Selina Grace (3) together with the three month old Alfred were living at Kingsheanton near Marwood. On 16th October 1876, Alfred and his sister Selina Grace started school at the recently opened Marwood Board School run by Mr Frank Palmer. The 1881 Census lists the family as resident in the nearby village of Prixford. Alfred's father worked as a thatcher and, judging from the old photo of some Prixford cottages below, he would not have been short of work in the village and surrounding area. Ten years later, the 20 year old Alfred was still living with his parents in Prixford and working as a tailor.

 

It seems that Alfred was not satisfied with life as a tailor and some time later he moved to London, where, on 19th June 1893, he applied to join the Metropolitan Police at New Scotland Yard. At the time of his physical examination, he was 22 years of age, 5' 9" tall, weighed 12 stone 8lbs, and had black hair, dark eyes and a dark complexion. His address was given as 81 Miles Buildings, Edgware Road, and his last employer named as Mr Skinner of Marwood. Alfred was given Warrant Number 78782 and attached to T Division (Hammersmith) of the Metropolitan Police. The Hammersmith police station at this time (1870 - 1939) is pictured below.

 

On 17th August 1897, Alfred Rodd married Hester Jane Fry at Christ Church in Marylebone. Alfred would remain with T Division for the whole of his service with the Metropolitan Police. Little is known of his day-to-day work except for one incident reported in The West London Observer on Friday 6th April 1900. At 7.30am on the morning of Sunday 1st April 1900, P.C. Rodd was on duty on the Middlesex side of Hammersmith Bridge when he was informed that there was a man lying on the foreshore on the Surrey side of the river. This was found to be the body of P.C. William Goulder, who appeared to have drowned. With some assistance, P.C. Rodd brought the body to the steps and it was taken to the police station in an ambulance. The body had been fully dressed with a lantern still attached in front of the belt but the constable's helmet was missing and his watch had stopped at 2.18am, suggesting that this was the time he had fallen into the water. Alfred Rodd gave evidence at an inquest the following Wednesday, as did a number of other witnesses who had seen and spoken to P.C. Goulder as he walked his beat that Saturday evening and Sunday morning. A verdict of accidental death was reached and notice taken of the dangerous condition of the towpath on the Surrey side of the river at high tide.

 

Alfred and Hester Rodd are recorded on the 1901 Census as living in Fulham with their two children, three year old Alfred Edwin and one year old Bessie. By the time of the 1911 Census, the family, now comprising Alfred (40), Hester (38), Alfred Edwin (13), Bessie (11) and Doris (6), had moved to 16 Beryl Road in Hammersmith. Alfred Edwin would later join the Royal Engineers and serve on the Western Front as a qualified telegraph operator from January 1917, thus earning entitlement to the British War Medal and Victory medal for his service in the Great War.

 

Alfred Rodd resigned from the Metropolitan Police on 29th December 1919. He was 48 years old and had served for a total of 26 years and 193 days. His intended place of residence was given as 33 Marlborough Road, Ilfracombe. Later Alfred and Hester moved to Station Road, Ilfracombe, where they lived for a number of years.

In early 1938, the Rodds moved to 37 North Street, South Molton, Devonshire, and after only six weeks in their new home, Alfred fell ill and died a few days later on 8th March. He was 67 years old and left effects valued at £92. Hester, his widow, died in 1961.