INTRODUCTION OF POLICEWOMEN IN BERMUDA - In April 1960, then Commissioner of Police, R.G. Henderson, submitted his Annual Report to the House of Assembly as reported in the Royal Gazette on Monday May 2nd 1960, and one of his recommendations was that the Police be authorized to hire two women police officers.
Commissioner R. G. Henderson
Permission was requested for two trained Police Women to be recruited from the U.K. to perform C.I.D. duties, one Sergeant and one Constable in the first instance. “These two women, it is hoped, will be able to recruit and train women locally as and when required. It is embarrassing – in fact it is quite wrong – for men to take statements from females in the investigation of sexual offences and other kindred offences affecting women and small children.”
Commissioner Henderson’s Annual Report’s summary specifically recommended that there be an “Increase in Establishment from 211 (all ranks) to 273 which includes two Policewomen”.
In May 1960 Mr. George H Robins MBE was appointed as Deputy Commiissioner following the retirement of DCOP Max Bronte Parker, and Mr. Robins’ support for the introduction of policewomen and the creation of a Police Training School providing three months training courses for locally hired recruits was pivotal in ensuring not only the creation of a well trained Policewomen’s Department, but also the requisite training for Bermudians comparable to the training previouly provided only to recruits hired from the UK, who, by the mid-1950’s, were required to attend the Police Training Academy at Millmeece in Staffordshire prior to taking up their duties in Bermuda.
Our First Woman InspectorInspector Isobella “Isobel” made history in Bermuda on 3rd March 1961, when she was hired as an experienced woman police officer from the U.K. to set up a policewomen’s department in Bermuda.
Two days later, on Sunday 5th March 1961, the Royal Gazette published the following article headlined:-
COLONY’S FIRST POLICEWOMEN SAYS IT’S A CHALLENGE
What must it be like to be the only woman among 270 policemen?
According to Bermuda's first policewoman, Inspector Isabella 'Isobel' Mitchell Lee, aged 38, of Motherwell, Scotland: "It's quite a challenge and I hope that I can keep up the standard we have set back home in Britain."
Inspector Lee, unmarried, friendly and obviously devoted to her work, arrived in Bermuda on Friday to take up her administrative post at Police Headquarters. She will "be responsible for the designing of a summer uniform to be worn by recruits from the "weaker sex" in future.
Miss Lee will also be carrying out a survey of the work available to women police in dealing with cases in which women and children are involved. Depending on this survey, said Deputy Commissioner G. H. Robins, it will be decided what the strength of the policewomen detachment should be.
Those recruited will be local women. "I hope we will be able to get them," he said. Being the only female in the force, Miss Lee does not feel out on a limb. "Everyone has been so kind," she said.
She joined the force in 1946 in St. Alban's City. A year later that force amalgamated with the Hertfordshire Constabulary. After completing her basic training there, she went nearer her home in Hamilton Burgh, owing to the illness of her parents.
She then transferred to Stevenage New Town in Hertfordshire, and from there she has come to Bermuda. In addition to her other duties, Miss Lee will look after female prisoners and children.
Asked if criminals took advantage of policewomen, Inspector Lee said that she didn't think so and added that she had had training in self-defense. Miss Lee has completed an instructor's course which will enable her to train local girls when they are recruited. It is expected that another policewoman, a sergeant, will be arriving soon to help her.
Talking about the uniform she would be designing, Miss Lee agreed emphatically with Mr. Robins that female members of the force would definitely not be seen in Bermuda shorts. It will probably be a simple dress, ankle socks and a peaked cap. Winter uniform will be the same as in Great Britain. They will not carry truncheons and will not be called upon to do night duty.
Mr. Robins said he hoped the new recruits would be able to boast of higher qualifications than the force asks of its male members. Asked if he thought the salary would be an attraction, Mr. Robins replied it was not just a matter of money. “You are dealing with human beings and you must have a sense of vocation,” he said.
The police force in the U.K. numbers 60,000 of whom 2,600 are women.”
The article below was published in the 1961 Winter edition of our Bermuda Police Magazine following the hiring of Woman Inspector Isobel Lee in March 196l, and Woman Sergeant Rose E. Nevill who joined in October 1961 having previously been a member of the Bedfordshire County Constabulary since 1956. CLICK HERE to view the 1961 magazine.
Then Deputy Commissioner Robins was clearly a strong advocate of having a Policewomen’s Department, and just weeks after the hiring of Inspector Lee, he was officially appointed as Commissioner of Police with effect from 2nd April 1961.
Later in the year, Commissioner Robins was the guest speaker at a forum held at Warwick Workmen’s Club at which he gave a presentation intended to encourage Bermudians to join the Police Force.
One member of the audience at Warwick Workmen's Club, who had been particuarly drawn to Commissioner Robins' presentation, was a young lady, Ms. Jean Mattis who went on to join the Police Force as a direct result of that meeting.
Many years later, when asked what sparked her interest in the joining the Police, Jean had no hesitation in giving credit to former Commissioner of Police, George Robins, who "organized a forum at the Warwick Workmen's Club in late 1961, to which he invited any Bermudian women who might be interested in joining the Police Force. Jean vividly recalls that she was one of 13 women who went along that evening. Commissioner Robins told her "right off the bat" that he was looking for people with her personality. She promptly took the entrance exam and passed with flying colours.
CLICK HERE to view our article “Commissioner George Robins first year – 1961” written by George Rose, which provides a comprehensive report on the presentation given by Commissioner Robins at Warwick Workmen’s Club as published in the Royal Gazette on September 25th 1961.
Jean officially joined the Police Force in January 1962 as our first Bermudian woman police officer, and went on to make history as the Inspector in charge of the Police Women's Department. CLICK HERE to read Jean's personal recollections of her many years service in the Bermuda Police.
Jean was one of three women to attend the first ever 15 week Basic Training course at the newly created Police Training School headed by Chief Inspector Roy Chandler. The course was held from March – June 1962 shortly after the arrival of Mr. Chandler from the Cheshire Police in England. The other two female recruits were Betty Osborne and Gwendolyn DeGrilla (originally from Belize and married to a Bermudian). Jean says she found Mr. Chandler to be a very enlightened instructor who gave her great encouragement. Although she felt slightly lacking in confidence, Mr. Chandler made it clear he had every confidence in her ability, and sure enough Jean excelled in the training course and graduated 2nd in her class.
EDITORS NOTE - It had been my intention for several years to publish an article here in our 'Hall of Fame' about the tremendous contribution made by Inspector Lee to the development of the Bermuda Policewomen’s Department, but I had very little information about her life prior to coming out to Bermuda, nor what happened to her after leaving the Island following her retirement in 1977.
That was to change substantially in March 2025 when, completely out of the blue, I received an email from Mr. George Barnsley, Chair of the Lanarkshire Police Historical Society, informing me that he was in the process of researching the history of Inspector Isabella Lee. Mr. Barnsley had discovered some information from our ExPo website about Inspector Lee having served here as our first woman police officer. Mr. Barnsley explained that prior to coming to Bermuda, Isabella Lee was the first female police officer of Hamilton Burgh Police in Lanarkshire, Scotland, and he was looking for any further information about Ms. Lee’s service in the Bermuda Police to facilitate his research, along with any suitable photos.
Mr. Barnsley has a keen interest in Police history as a retired Superintendent with 32 years service with Strathclyde Police in Scotland, where the majority of his service was in CID, Major Crime and latterly training at the Scottish National Police College at Tulliallan Castle.
We started correspondence with each other, and armed with Mr. Barnsley’s own extensive research plus the information I was able to forward to him, he has written the following superb article about the life of Ms. Lee which speaks for itself. On behalf of the Bermuda Ex-Police Officers Association I am delighted to publish this article in full.
Introduction - Here is another in our series of former colleagues, this one featuring a ‘double-first’. Isabella Mitchell Lee, from Motherwell, was the first policewoman employed by Hamilton Burgh Police and the first policewoman employed by the Bermuda Police, working in Hamilton, the capital city.
She had an amazing career and was very much a pioneer of women in policing.
Isabella was born on the 6th of October 1922 at 183 Orbiston Street in Motherwell. Her father was a Millworker in a local steel works.
Isabella attended Muir Street Primary and Dalziel High Schools. On leaving school she was employed in clerical work.
During the second world war, Isabella joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (A.T.S.). She attested at Glasgow on the 6th of February 1942. She was allocated the Service No: W/121441.
Isabella served in and around the Leicester area with ‘C’ Company attached to the Royal Army Pay Corp (RAPC). She achieved the rank of Acting Lance Corporal. On the 4th of June 1945 she was transferred to ‘L’ Company based in Glasgow, again attached to the RAPC. On transfer she had to relinquish her acting role. She remained in Glasgow until her discharge on the 28th of January 1946. For her WW2 service she was awarded the Defence Medal.
On discharge form the ATS, Isabella began looking for other employment. She applied to a number of police forces around the United Kingdom. One of these applications was successful and on the 28th of December 1946, she joined Hertfordshire Constabulary as Woman Police Constable No 4, serving at St. Albans.
Isabella’s father became unwell toward the end of 1948, and she decided that she would like to return home. Around the same time, Hamilton Burgh Police were advertising for women police officers, the first ever to be appointed to the Burgh force. Isabella made an application, which was successful.
On the 19th of January 1949 she resigned form Hertfordshire Constabulary and on the 20th of January 1949 she became the first ever policewoman appointed by Hamilton Burgh police. She lived with her parents at 32 Netherwood Road, Motherwell.
Domestically her family situation settled, and Isabella decided to return to Hertfordshire. She contacted her previous force who were happy to take her back and have her service run continuously, including her time with Hamilton Burgh. Isabella returned to Hertfordshire on the 31st of July 1949, again at St. Albans, retaining her collar No 4.
Members of the Policewomen’s DepartmentOn the 1st of September 1954 Isabella was promoted to the rank of uniform Sergeant, remaining at St. Albans.
In 1961, The British Overseas Territory of Bermuda began a recruitment drive for policewomen. This was the first time the Territory had advertised for female officers.
Isabella applied and was interviewed for the job. She was successful in her application and on the 3rd of March 1961 she was appointed to the Bermuda Police as their first policewoman and as their first Policewoman Inspector. She was based at the Headquarters in Hamilton. Thus she completed a ‘double first’; the first policewoman in Hamilton, Scotland, and the first policewoman in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Inspector Lee's career move hit the front cover of the Motherwell Times in April 1961 with the headline,
"Only (Police) Woman In Millionaires' Paradise".
The articles went on to say, "Swaying palms and glorious white beaches. Sounds like a scene from a travel poster, but for Inspector Isabella Lee of Motherwell, whose parents, Mr and Mrs James Lee, reside at 32 Netherwood Road, Motherwell, has recently been appointed as first policewoman of the Bermudas, a tiny cluster of tropical islands in the East Atlantic. They have been a Crown colony since the early 17th century.
And how does she regard her appointment in this Millionaires; paradise ... "It's quite a challenge and I hope that I can keep up the standard we have set back in Britain.
This is Inspector Lee's second "first". She was the first ever policewoman in Hamilton Burgh Police and is now the first policewoman in Hamilton, capital town of Bermuda. A curious coincidence ....
Announcing her appointment, the "Royal Gazette Weekly" published each Sunday in Hamilton, the question is asked "if criminals took advantage of policewomen?" To this Inspector Lee replied, "I don't think so ... anyway I have had training in self defence."
The Crown Colony's first policewoman's immediate duty is to design a new summer uniform ... strange as it may seem this will not include BERMUDA SHORTS!
Inspector Lee's job was to establish a policewoman’s department and a few weeks later she was joined by another officer from the United Kingdom, Sergeant Rose Neville. They began a recruitment campaign immediately with great effort made to recruit local women but it was not until the 7th of January 1962 that W.P.C. Mattis, a local woman joined. On March 12, 1962, W.P.C.’s DeGrilla and Osborne were enlisted, and they joined W.P.C. Mattis on the first full length training course to be held in the Colony.
As recruitment of suitable local women was still difficult, three Policewomen were recruited from the United Kingdom. They were W.P.C.’s Adkins, Lester-Card and Wainwright. All of these members had previous police experience in U.K. forces.
All of the women were stationed in Central Division, Hamilton, where they worked three tours of duty, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., 6 p.m. – 2 a.m., and 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. They were mainly engaged in normal beat duties and tasked to deal with all incidents concerning women and children. They also visited the Eastern and Western Divisions as and when required, generally for domestic and sexual crimes or incidents involving children.
Regular investigations included the ill treatment, neglect or abandonment of children, offences against women ranging from rapes, serious assaults, indecent assaults and domestic violence, and handling female prisoners when they were arrested and needed to be searched and brought to court. Jean hastened to add that in addition to those duties, policewomen investigated shoplifting, thefts and other petty crimes, along with malicious telephone calls, and would also be called on to perform Station duties.
Isabella was also appointed to be a member of the Government appointed committee “Care and Treatment of Children and Young Persons.”
In 1965 Isabella was seconded to the Bahamas Police, to assist with their recruitment and establishment of a policewoman’s department. This was only for a few months.
Isabella ensured that the female officers under her command were well trained and prepared for their duties, expanding their roles into other departments such as Traffic.
In March 1975 Isabella was seconded to the Murder Room in CID, however the reason is unknown. This appears to have been a short secondment.
In 1977 Inspector Lee was awarded the Colonial Police Medal for Distinguished Service. That same year she retired from the police having served for a total of 31 years in Hertfordshire, Hamilton and Bermuda.
She was succeeded by her first Bermudian recruit, Sergeant Jean Delight Vickers nee Mattis. Jean recently said of Isabella –
"Isabel Lee was an excellent Inspector and always wanted everything done right. She was strict but always fair, and very knowledgeable. When I first started as a young policewomen, she would always correct me in a positive way. Nobody taught me like she did. She was wonderful to work for. I'm proud to call her my best friend.
There's no question that Inspector Lee set a high standard for our policewomen , and it was a credit to her that she provided invaluable service in training me to take over as the Inspector in charge of the Police Women's Department when she retired in 1977.”
Isabella retired to Hertfordshire, living at Cromwell Green, Letchworth. She died on the 15th of December 1989 at the Lister Hospital, Stevenage. She had been diagnosed with cancer some time earlier. Isabella was only 67 years of age.
Quite an amazing career covering such diverse areas of policing and clearly a well-respected officer by her colleagues.
Note - The following photo shows Inspector Lee attending a Farewell "Do" in the Officers Mess at Prospect for Inspector Robert "Bob" Ball, and will be posted in the "Who, Where and When" column of our ExPo website simultaneously with the publication of the above "Hall of Fame" article.
