My great grandfather, Samuel Bettley, was a police constable living and working in villages to the west of York. He was missing from the 1921 census at his home address with his wife described as the acting head of household. I've found Sam shown as a boarder at the Guildhall, Doncaster along with a police sergeant and several other constables. I've snipped the address and think it says 'Science Room' as well as the Guildhall.
I've found online that the Guildhall was used as the police station in Doncaster but that the city had its own force until later in the 20th century, when it merged with the West Yorkshire constabulary. Sam and his colleagues are shown as employees of West Riding County Council and their work addresses are various villages around the West Riding, which I think were their usual postings. Sam's work address is Marston, which is the village of Long Marston where he lived and worked in a police house.
Does anyone know more about the history of the Guildhall as a police station that might shed light on why Sam and the others were boarding there? I saw some reference to the magistrates' court being behind the Guildhall but it seems unlikely they'd all have been required for a single case given their disparate working locations. Would training have taken place there?
