| The post of Superintendent of the Hastings police force had become vacant, and WMG, along with many others, applied for the position. On 29 May 1851 the Hastings watch committee appointed WMG, then a Superintendent with the Great Western Railway, as Inspector of the Hastings Borough police. He took up the post on 7 June 1856 at a salary of £120 per annum. He passed through a probationary period, and in September 1857, his designation was changed to Superintendent, and his salary was increased to £135 per annum.
In October 1858, WMG reported to the Watch Committee that he been presented by the tradesmen of the borough with a gold watch and chain "as a token of their satisfaction for his exertions in carrying out his office". The acceptance of the gift was approved, and the committee had much pleasure in recording the "lucid manner" in which the first annual report of the state of crime in the borough had been prepared and presented by the Superintendent.
In recognition of his efforts and the way in which he had reorganised the force, turning it from a collection of half trained men to a well drilled and well equipped force, he was subsequently referred to as "the father of the Hastings police force". |
