Constable John Westrup

page 1 of 5 JOHN WESTRUP’S STORY CHEPPING WYCOMBE’S FIRST POLICE CONSTABLE John (aka Jack) Westrup was born about 1828 in Chepping Wycombe. The ‘Chepping’ being old English for market which was dropped in the early 20th century in favour of High Wycombe.... More

page 1 of 5 JOHN WESTRUP’S STORY CHEPPING WYCOMBE’S FIRST POLICE CONSTABLE John (aka Jack) Westrup was born about 1828 in Chepping Wycombe. The ‘Chepping’ being old English for market which was dropped in the early 20th century in favour of High Wycombe. Jack was brought up by his mother, Charlotte Westrup, in the Newlands area and his first job was that of a groom. Newlands stood to the West of the town centre near to where Mendy Street stands today. However, by the 1920s much of this area had decayed into slum conditions and most of the houses were condemned as unfit for human habitation, with sewage pouring down the street and people sharing one room in cramped courtyards of subdivided flats. Shortly after Jack was born Sir Robert Peel’s New Police system was being instituted in 1829 but it was slow to rollout across the whole country and by February 1839 the local council had decided to appoint a Beadle (Town Crier) and Superintendent of police. On the 6th April George Davis Less