Women trailblazers of police force
ELSIE Joan Baldwin joined the Glamorgan Constabulary in 1948.
WPC Baldwin was one of just a handful of women who, after they’d taken on important roles which had traditionally been done by men during World War II, continued to blaze a trail into areas of work which had previously been off limits.
So it was that 70 years ago she became one of the first female police officers employed by the force we now know as South Wales Police.
Thanks to Elsie and her contemporaries in neighbouring Cardiff Police – which amalgamated with Glamorgan, Merthyr and Swansea to form the South Wales Constabulary in 1969 – women went from being the wives of police officers to occupying roles in all ranks.
Three years ago, ahead of the International Association of Women Police Training Conference in Cardiff, South Wales Police appealed for Elsie’s family to come forward so they could attend the opening ceremony.
They did, as did the families of two other female police officers who served in Cardiff.
For the first time it allowed South Wales Police to take a close look into the lives of the first women to walk the beat.
Here are their stories.
Elsie Joan Baldwin Elsie Joan Baldwin, later Elsie Joan Lewis, was known to family, friends and colleagues as Joan, which was typical of that era.
Joan was born in 1923 and she was a mother of two children, April and Richard Lewis.
Unusually, she was a single mother for most of April’s life. She met her husband to be in 1955 and they had Richard in 1961, she did not decide to marry her husband until 1970, but unfortunately he died a year later.
Joan passed away in 1995 following a short illness in Holme Tower, Penarth. Joan joined the Military Police for two years from 1943 to 1945, based in Reading and Liverpool, when one of her main duties was to take prisoners of war to the Isle of Wight.
She joined Glamorgan Constabulary in 1948.
Her daughter said that while she enjoyed the privilege of being a police officer, she did not like her duties.
Receiving calls and attending the many mental health hospitals in the area were her main responsibilities, which involved dealing with suicides that took place there, as well as other duties to do with women and children.
April said she could remember her mother speaking about the worst part of her job, which she named as recovering dead bodies from rivers.
Her family described her as a tough woman who was mentally and physically strong.
#She was said to have walked everywhere and won prizes for her gardening abilities.
They said she was “a very caring and loving mother who had always been there for them and was very proud to have been in the force”.
Her determination to fight crime continued even as a civilian.
In 1984, she fought off someone who tried to mug her in the Llanrumney area of Cardiff.
The assailant was caught and sentenced as a result of her actions.
Joan Coke Joan Coke was one of 17 women who were the first to be appointed as police officers for Cardiff, on January 13, 1947, the year before Elsie joined.
Joan didn’t have any children, but she had four nieces.
She had joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service at 26 and served as a “Wren” for five years between 1940 and 1945. She worked in Car- diff City Police for 27 years.
Her beats were mainly Tiger Bay and Cardiff city centre, though she also volunteered for service in Cyprus and spent two years on the British-controlled island from 1957 to 1959, where she was given temporary promotion to sergeant.
At the age of 53, Joan continued her work with South Wales Constabulary.
During her service she worked in many departments, including CID, and received a commendation from the Chief Constable.
After four years service with South Wales Constabulary she retired in 1973 and passed away 15 years later.
Joan was the first police woman in Cardiff to leave with a retirement pension.
She retired to her home in Thornhill where she lived with her 95-year-old mother.
She has been described by the family as a “very single-minded woman who was very adventurous”. Betty O’Brien Beatrice O’Brien – known to her family as Betty – was also one of the 17 police women who were the first to be appointed as police officers for Cardiff in January 1947.
She was later promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Her nephew and godson, Garry O’Brien, and his wife, Sheila, said Betty grew up in Cardiff and served in the Butetown area, living most of her life in Riverside.
She never married and was promoted to sergeant very early on in her 30-year career with the force.
She retired from the service as an acting inspector.
Garry said her promotion through the ranks was down to her genuine interest in people.
Her family describe her as a kind and compassionate woman who was “full of fun and would regularly sing and dance”.
Betty, the couple said, was “a nonjudgemental person who, when she worked with ‘ladies of the night’, offered them a cup of tea and sympathy.
“She never passed judgement and used to say that we were all susceptible to life’s traumas and that you should treat people as you would like to be treated”.
Garry recalled how he took her collars to the launderette as part of his chores, often wondering how she could wear it daily and remembering how it was the first thing she took off when she came through the door because it was so uncomfortable.
Sheila remembered a story Betty had told her of an experience in court: “Betty said she had arrested a man for indecent exposure and recalled how the judge asked her if she was certain it wasn’t a thumb, and Betty replied that ‘It didn’t have a nail on it my lord’.”