PET REGRETS

Stephen Wade tells the stories of some lesserknown people on the commemorative blue plaques of England. Edith Smith of Grantham

In a time of national emergency we rely on our police force more than ever, with men and women serving side by side. It was in Grantham, Lincs, in 1915 that Mrs Edith Smith became the first woman to be sworn in as a police constable with official powers of arrest. It was unheard of at the time.

The Home Office advised that women could not be sworn in because they did not count as “proper persons”, but Grantham’s Chief Constable gave his support given the particular problems the town faced. Since the Tommies had arrived at the army camp in nearby Belton Park, prostitution was rife. Smith soon restored order. A total of 100 “wayward girls” and 50 prostitutes were cautioned, whilst 40 women were convicted. You could say Smith was a cold, over-zealous moralist, since only the women were convicted, and not the men. She also spied on women for soldiers concerned about spousal fidelity. A former midwife, though, Smith would approach couples in the park pointing out the dangers. Cures for venereal disease were only just emerging, and births outside of marriage often left single mothers with the workhouse as the only option. Smith died in 1923. On the wall of Grantham’s old police station, a plaque has commemorated her since 2014.

After finding that a fifth (22%) of pet owners have sent their pet for re-homing, Sainsbury’s Bank have teamed up with TV vet Scott Miller to create a quiz to help future pet owners pick the right dog or cat breed for them.

Reasons for regret included that they didn’t have enough time to look after the animal, they turned out to be allergic to the pet or they didn’t like their pet’s personality!

Here at This England our “pawfect match” was an English bulldog, which couldn’t be more apt! Have a go at sainsburysbank.co.uk/pet-insurance/ pawfect-match.