HEBBORN FAMILY HISTORY & NEWS - October 2003.

WALTER HEBBORN (1854-1938)

Walter Hebborn [H014] the first son of William Hebborn [G002] and Sarah Gardner  was born at Cowley on 27th February 1854. His surname is recorded on his birth certificate as “Ebborn”.  When he was baptised at Cowley on 7th May 1854, the Rev. R.M. Benson recorded his name as “Walter Abraham Hepburn”.  By the time, Walter applied to join the Metropolitan Police In 1875 he had become “Hebborn” and had to convince the authorities he was the same person.

As far as I can establish Walter was the first of a line of Hebborn policemen that continues to the present day. His first posting was to ‘G’ Division at Kings Cross, later he served at Stoke Newington and at Woodford, where he was appointed Acting Sergeant and transferred to Loughton. He served in various divisions before retiring from the Metropolitan Police with the rank of Inspector in 1900. He is described in a newspaper article as having an aptitude for dealing with all classes of offences, and feared and respected by lawbreakers.

 On the 22nd August 1883, he married Eliza Emily Mills at Chelmsford.  At that time, he was living at Forest Road, Woodford. The Registration Districts in which their children were born help to chart Walter’s various postings:

Phillip Norman [J008] born 1885, West Ham. Marion Phipps [J009] born 1887, Loughton. Leslie Montague [J010] born 1889, Brentford. Bertha Louise [J011] born 1891, Uxbridge. Olive Maud [J012] born 1895, Wandsworth.                 

Walter’s long career was not without incident and he received commendations on more than one occasion. Single-handed he dispersed a crowd of about one hundred at an illegal prizefight in Epping Forrest. On another occasion, he disarmed and arrested a man firing a pistol in the street.  In those days, policemen would only be armed with a truncheon, which was not much protection from a firearm.

After completing his 25 years in ‘The Met’, he was appointed Detective Inspector with the London Brighton & South Coast Railway Police.  It would be another 20 years before he finally retired from his long and eventful police career.  

Probably his experiences prompted three of his younger brothers to join the Police:

William Hebborn [H020] Served with the Oxford City Police 1890 - 1905
Frederick James Hebborn [H021] Served with the Metropolitan Police 1891 - 1919
Harry Hebborn [H022] Served with the Metropolitan Police 1893 - 1919

Walter’s two sons were also to become policemen. Phillip with the Brighton County force and Leslie served with the Metropolitan Police until his untimely death in 1932.

A photograph of the four brothers in their police uniforms can be viewed in ‘Gallery’.

I am indebted to Walter’s grandson, Douglas C.M. Hebborn for providing material that has made this article possible.

John Hebborn

The numbers in square brackets after names can be used to identify persons on Family Tree Charts and Databases. See Family Tree Charts E002 and H014.