In January 2013, we received an enquiry from Mrs. Kim Bolton in Sydney, Australia, who was researching her family tree and was attempting to obtain information about her maternal great grandfather, George Downs, who she had reason to believe had served as a Bermuda policeman.
Kim’s grandmother was born in Bermuda where she met and married William Whittle who was believed to be serving in the Manchester Regiment. They were married at the Garrison Church, Prospect in October 1934 and her grandmother moved to England in 1938 and never managed to return to Bermuda. Kim had very little knowledge of her Grandmother's immediate relatives in Bermuda except that her Grandmother had a half sister by the name of Dorothy. Kim had visited the island briefly in 1990, along with her mother and her younger brother, to bring her Grandmother's ashes back to her homeland. During their stay they enjoyed the hospitality of Jackie Longworth, Barbara Whittle and family, niece and sister in law to Kim's Grandmother.
A quick check of our records, as recorded in the official blue books stored at Government Archives revealed that George Down (not Downs), had served in the Bermuda Police Force from 1st April 1915 until his retirement on 4th February 1946.
We also checked with former Superintendent Andrew Bermingham who is our leading historian on the Bermuda Police, and Andy advised that he knew and had met George Down in the 1970’s. He also recalled that an article about George had been published by the Royal Gazette in the special edition celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Bermuda Police Force in 1979.
Andy had a copy of the above photo of George taken circa 1945 with his police colleagues outside Somerset Police Station. He was aware that George’s father, Samuel Down, who came to Bermuda in the 1870’s as a Royal Marine, had settled in Bermuda and went on to join the Bermuda Police Force.
Andy was able to advise that George Down’s only daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Tatem (nee Down) is alive and well and lives in Spanish Point with her husband Arthur who happens to volunteer alongside Andy at the Bermuda Historical Museum in Hamilton.
We contacted Dorothy who was delighted to provide us with information about both her father, George, and her grandfather Samuel, along with several photographs, from which, along with the article in Bermuda Police 1879-1979, we have compiled the following brief history of these two, father and son, former Bermuda Police Officers who between them served from 1902 – 1946.
This article appeared in the Royal Gazette supplement Bermuda Police 1879-1979. We have added the photos
At the ripe old age of fifty, most Policemen begin to look towards that happy day when retirement comes. But for Mr. Samuel Down, the half century mark meant a new career. (His) story begins on October 4, 1876, when Royal Marine Down arrived in Bermuda aboard the ‘Himalaya’.
Stationed at the Naval Dockyard, Mr. Down grew to like Bermuda, and in 1881 he purchased his discharge for 15 pounds. For the next eleven years Mr. Down did a variety of jobs, married Miss Millicent Dunkley, a member of an old Bermuda family, and begat a son, George Down.
For whatever reasons, Mr. Down Senior joined the Police Service in 1902, serving at the Somerset Police Station which was located at the Old Post Office, Mangrove Bay.
Down Senior stayed with the force until his sixty-third year, when he retired with a pension of 2 pounds ten a month.
Like father, like son, Down Junior picked up the gauntlet the same year, at 7 pounds a month, also serving at the Somerset Police Station, then moved to its present location. Down Junior spent the next 31 years in Western Division.
His wife, Mrs. Florence Down of Beacon Hill, Somerset, remembers those years and notes that most of the incidents her husband dealt with arose out of activities at the Dockyard, where the Royal Navy Base was in full operation until 1951.
George and Florence Down at home
In the First World War, said Mrs Down, one of his duties was to guard Watford Bridge, which was no easy task as often only two men were on duty at a time - one at the Station and one on patrol.
Twice a week, usually on night duty, a Police officer would cycle from Somerset Police Station to Amen Corner (the junction of Middle Road and Cobbs Hill Road) and back again checking property along the way, an oil lantern fixed to their belt to light the way.
Promotion in those times was slow and invariably occurred by walking into “dead men’s shoes”.
Mr. George Down achieved the rank of Sergeant in 1941, one month short of his fiftieth birthday - a rank his father attained by his sixty-third birthday.
In 1942 he was awarded the clasp to the Colonial Police Long Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.
Five years over his 50th birthday Mr. Down retired, although he remained with the Government, in the Health Department until 1967, when he finally retired at the age of 76. Mr. Down died in April 1976 at 85, six years shy of his father’s long life.”
My grandfather, Samuel Down, died when I was four, but I can remember him. He worried about me riding my tricycle on our large front porch, always telling me to stay away from the front steps. Also when he was sick he began to see things that were not there, but I always agreed with him.
Samuel Down sitting on porch at "Glemayne” Wafo Road, Somerset
My father was a well-liked man and policeman in Somerset. He was always able to reason with the gentlemen known to be our village drunkards and was friendly with them. He was about forty-one when I was born so both my parents were older before they started a family. I ended being an only child. My grandparents always lived with us. My grandmother died when I was nineteen.
George Down with sister Mabel (left) and his mother Millicent
I can remember going fishing with my Dad; he set fish-pots and owned a large cedar dinghy with sail, and later with a small outboard motor. He set them on West Side off Daniel’s Head and I always helped him clean and scale the fish, and of course later enjoyed a wonderful fish dinner.
Dad helped the grocer’s and home owners to collect their rent when it was not forthcoming. The little extra he got helped to keep the family going as a policeman’s pay was very small in those days.
All in all he was a good man and never lost his temper, at least not at home. My cousin, Barbara Dale-Atwood wrote a biography of the Dale and Down family which is where a large part of our information about my dad and grandfather came from.
Dorothy Tatem
Arthur and Dorothy Tatem have two sons, George Arthur Tatem and Michael Anthony Tatem, both of whom reside in Bermuda, and one grandson, Brian James Tatem who resides in the U.S.
We have been in touch with Barbara Dale-Atwood and will publish any further information that she can provide about this father and son who collectively served in the Bermuda Police Force from 1902 until 1946.
Update - Since first hearing from Kim Bolton in Sydney, Australia, she has been in touch with Dorothy Tatem who has kindly provided considerable information about both George and Samuel Down. Kim is delighted to have made contact with her family connections in Bermuda and to have received so much help in researching her family tree.
Kim Bolton (left) with her husband Steve and daughter Nicola (age 16) in Australia
Following the publishing of this article Kim was very keen to return to Bermuda to acquaint herself with the Tatem side of her family and was especially keen to meet with Dorothy who had been so helpful in helping to compile much of the above information. Sadly, Dorothy passed away earlier this year as reported by Mike Cherry in the comments section below.
However, Kim travelled all the way from Australia to Bermuda in October 2013 in order to connect and re-connect with her Bermudian family, and she took the time to visit both Andy Bermingham and myself, along with Dorothy's husband, Arthur, to thank us for our assistance. It was a real pleasure working with Kim on this project and she has promised faithfully to provide us with an update after she returns to Australia.
Kim Bolton visits Roger Sherratt during her trip to Bermuda in October 2013