Name/Title
Eastbourne Borough Police ball top helmet c1912 -1925Entry/Object ID
1157Description
Blue cotton covered cork six panel police helmet, with white metal ball top and cruciform shaped fixing, and white cotton lining. Has one white metal rose attached to the right side of a cloth helmet band (the left side rose is missing) and the remains of one half of a leather chinstrap. Marked inside "Christys London" and has written on inside in ink "14". Also on inside is a paper label marked "Bobby and Co. Eastbourne". This helmet has been crushed and damaged. No badgeUse
For use by a police male constable or sergeant in Eastbourne Borough PoliceContext
Eastbourne Borough Police was established in April 1891 and the first helmets worn were of a metal rose topped design. Between 1891 and 1993 they adopted a close fitting helmet with a ball top and metal chain adornments. At sometime before 1919 a similar helmet but without the metal chain adornments was adopted and used until c1925. This is the type of helmet pictured. These helmets were replaced by ones with a cloth covered dome, which in turn were replaced by ones with a metal rose top. In the 1960s Eastbourne Borough Police adopted a coxcomb style helmet which was in use until the force was amalgamated into Sussex Constabulary.
Though there is no badge this helmet can be identified as coming from Eastbourne Borough Police by the presence of a "Bobby and Co. Eastbourne" label, and the cruciform shaped top fixing. Bobby and Co. were a chain of early department stores, and their Eastbourne branch, which opened in 1911/1912, is known for having supplied helmets to the Borough force.
Though damaged, this is a rare surviver and would have been in use at a time when white helmets were used for daytime summer wear in Eastbourne. The "14" is thought to have been an officer's collar (ID) number.