Cecil Moriarty

Cecil Moriarty
Full name Cecil Charles Hudson Moriarty
Date of birth 28 January 1877
Place of birth Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland
Date of death 7 April 1958(1958-04-07) (aged 81)
Place of death Tenbury, Worcestershire
Rugby union career
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1899 Ireland 1 ()

Cecil Charles Hudson Moriarty, CBE, OBE, CStJ (1877–1958) was an Irish-born British police officer and Irish rugby international. He won one cap against Wales in 1899.[1] He served as Chief Constable of Birmingham from 1935 to 1941, and his manuals and books on police procedures became essential guidebooks for police in the United Kingdom.[2]

Biography

Born in Tralee, County Kerry, Moriarty was the second son of The Rev. Thomas Alexander Moriarty, a Church of Ireland Rector of Millstreet, County Cork.[3] Moriarty graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 1898, the year before his cap for the Irish rugby union team.[2] He graduated in 1912 with a bachelor of laws and in 1932 received an additional degree of doctor of laws.[4]

Moriarty then joined the Royal Irish Constabulary, becoming a first-class district inspector in 1902. In 1912, he joined RIC headquarters. In 1918, he moved to Birmingham to take on the role of assistant chief constable. Many Irish constables had been recruited to move to Birmingham by Sir Charles Rafter, Chief Constable of Birmingham from 1899 to 1935, who relied on the Irish to help stamp out the infamous Peaky Blinders gang.[2]

The British police strikes in 1918 and 1919 led to the Police Act 1919, which made it illegal for police officers in the UK to strike. Moriarty realised more professionalism was required among police recruits and officers, and subsequently "became the key figure in organising an intensive training curriculum" in Birmingham. The program developed a national reputation for police training, and over the next two decades, officers from 77 police forces from England and Wales had trained in Birmingham.[2]

Moriarty authored several books and papers on police procedures, notably Moriarty's Police Law (1929), which for more than half a century was a fundamental resource for law enforcement officials in the UK.[5][6]

Moriarty succeeded Rafter as Chief Constable of Birmingham in 1935, and retired six years later,[7] having led the city through two years of the Blitz.[2]

He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1925.[8] In 1936, he was made a Commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John[9] and in 1938 a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.[10]

Personal life

Moriarty married Muriel Una (née Carter) of Belmullet, County Mayo, in 1906. They had three daughters. He died in 1958 in Worcestershire.[4]

Publications

References

  1. ↑ Jones, Stephen (1994). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1994-95. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-7850-4.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Chinn, Carl (10 May 2014). "Recruits helped stamp out peaky blinders". The Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Herlihy, Jim (2005). Royal Irish Constabulary Officers: A Biographical Dictionary and Genealogical Guide, 1816-1922. Four Courts Press. p. 229. ISBN 1-85182-826-5.
  4. 1 2 "Obituary: Mr. C. C. H. Moriarty". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 9 April 1958. p. 11.
  5. ↑ "Moriarty, Cecil C. H. (Cecil Charles Hudson) (1877-1958)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  6. ↑ English, Jack (2005). Police Law. Oxford University Press. p. xx. ISBN 0-19-928405-9. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "RIC Officers Abroad" (PDF). An Garda Síochána Management Journal. Garda Síochána. December 2004. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "No. 33053". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1925. p. 3776.
  9. ↑ "No. 34297". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 June 1936. p. 4014.
  10. ↑ "No. 34469". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1937. p. 9.
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