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Mrs Rebecca Lipscombe

Mrs Rebecca Lucy Lipscombe is technically the first female officer in Birmingham, as her name appears first in the meeting minutes.

Unfortunately, her file did not survive, but we do know some things about her. She was born as Rebecca Alan on 23 May 1856, and joined Birmingham City Police as a lock-up matron in April 1904.

Baptism records show she had a son, Gabriel, baptised on 28 March 1877. There is no record of the father, with Mrs Lipscombe shown as a single woman living in a workhouse. In 1891, she married Thomas Lipscombe at the age of 32, with Thomas 10 years younger than her.

After being a police officer, Rebecca returned to her matron role in March 1918. We do not know when she left, but the last entry on her sick record is from November 1932 to January 1933, when she was 76.