Before the advent of regular police forces, policing in villages was carried out by Parish Constables. These were appointed for a 12 month period of duty at the local Petty Sessions.

 The records of the Petty Sessions held in the Oswestry Town Council Archives (Ref 1) reveal the names and occupations of parish constables for Trefonen, Treflach and Nantmawr from around 1856 to 1895.  A selection of names appears below: 

Date of Appointment	Name	Parish	Occupation
27 March 1856	Samuel Tudor	Treflach Wood	Labourer
	Thomas Tudor	Trefonen	Builder
26 March 1857	William Hughes	Trefonen	Labourer
	Edward Tudor	Treflach Wood	Labourer
26 March 1858	Isaac Williams	Treflach Wood	Wheelwright
31 March 1859	John Davies	Treflach	Labourer
	Charles Dolby	Trefonen	Carter
29 March 1860	David Morris	Treflach	Labourer
	John Thomas	Trefonnen	Carrier
28 March 1861	John Jones	Treflach	Labourer
	Richard Williams	Trefonnen	Labourer
27 March 1862	Edward Jones	Treflach	Labourer
	Richard Roberts	Moelydd, Trefonnen	Labourer
	John Roberts	Side of Moelydd, Trefonnen	Labourer
26 March 1863	James Davies	Trefonnen	Butcher
	Thomas Powell	Trefonnen, Moelydd	Labourer
	John Spruce	Treflach nr Porthywaen	Grazier
31 March 1864	Edward Griffiths	Treflach	Labourer
	Richard Tunley	Trefonnen	Labourer
29 March 1866	John Phillips	Porthywaen, Treflach	Butcher
	Benjamin Lloyd	Nantmawr, Trefonen	Labourer
28 March 1867	Allan Jones	Nantmawr, Llanyblodwel	Labourer
28 March 1868	Pryce Williams	Treflach	Smith
25 March 1869	John Tudor	Treflach, nr Mr Savin’s row.	Labourer
	James Smith	Trefonnen	Engine driver
	Thomas Jones	Nantmawr, Llanyblodwel	Labourer
31 March 1870	Isaac Williams	Treflach	Wheelwright
	Thomas Howell	Moelydd, Trefonnen	Stone cutter
	Watkin Watkin	Nant Mawr, Llanyblodwel	Shoe maker
30 March 1871	Thomas Morris	Wernywheel, Treflach	Labourer
	Richard Lewis	Drill Gravel, Trefonnen	Labourer
	William Pryce	Nantmawr, Trefonnen	Smith
	Allen Jones	Nantmawr, Llanyblodwel	Labourer
28 March 1872	Edward Tudor	Treflach	Labourer
	Charles Evans	Nantmawr	Labourer
26 March 1874	Samuel Jones	Treflach	Smith
	David Meredith	Moleydd, Trefonnen	Rockman
25 March 1875	Richard Bates	Trefonnen	Shoemaker
	Edward Davies	Trefonnen	Labourer
	Thomas Jones	Nantmawr, Llanyblodwel	Labourer
30 March 1876	Thomas Ellis	Treflach	Stone cutter
	Richard Lewis	Trefonnen	Labourer
29 March 1877	John Price	Treflach	Labourer
	Thomas Oliver	Trefonnen	Mason
27 March 1879	Price Edwards	Treflach	Labourer
	Edward Tudor	Trefonnen	Labourer
25 March 1880	John Thomas	Treflach	Labourer
	Esau Dyke	Trefonnen	Labourer
	Watkin Watkin	Nantmawr, Llanyblodwel	Shoemaker
31 March 1881	Isaac Williams	Treflach	Wheelwright
	James Owen	Trefonnen	Shopkeeper
30 March 1882	Samuel Jones	Treflach	Smith
	Thomas Oliver	Trefonnen	Mason
	Thomas Dyke	Trefonnen	Labourer
29 March 1883	Charles Evans	Treflach	Labourer
	Richard Lewis	Trefonnen	Labourer
	Richard Bates	Trefonnen	Shoemaker
	Watkin Watkin(s)	Nantmawr, Llanyblodwel	Shoemaker
27 March 1884	Thomas Houlston	Treflach	Labourer
	John Phillips	Treflach	Butcher
	George Francis	Trefonnen	Brickmaker
	Watkin Watkin(s)	Nantmawr, Llanyblodwel	Shoemaker
26 March 1885	Thomas Evans	Forest, Treflach	Labourer
	John Thomas	Trefonnen	Farmer
25 March 1886	William Watkin	Treflach	Labourer
	Joseph Ellis	Treflach	Labourer
31 March 1887	Daniel Davies	Treflach	Farmer
	Price Edwards	Trefonnen	Labourer
	Robert Vaughan	Trefonnen	Carpenter
29 March 1888	Henry Jones	Treflach	Carpenter
	Esau Dyke	Trefonen	Labourer
	Thomas Hughes	Nantmawr	Shopkeeper
28 March 1889	Lewis Dyke	Treflach	Labourer
	Thomas Oliver	Nantmawr, Trefonen	Mason
	John Breeze Jnr	Trefonen	Shoemaker
27 March 1890	John Ellis	Treflach	Provision Dealer
	Edward Tudor	Nantmawr, Trefonen	Labourer
26 March 1891	William Tudor	Treflach	Labourer
	John Carsley the younger	Nantmawr	Labourer
	Moses Meredith	Trefonen	Collier
31 March 1892	William Watkin	Treflach	Labourer
	Robert Parry	Nantmawr	Labourer
	Richard Jones	Bwlch Cottage, Trefonen	Labourer
	Elias Jones	Nantmawr	Rockman
30 March 1893	John Ellis	Treflach	Prov dealer
	John Carsley	Nantmawr, Trefonen	Quarryman
	Henry Goulding	Trefonen	Labourer
29 March 1894	Robert Probert	Treflach Wood	Labourer
	Elliot Ellis	Tytegwch, Treflach	Stone cutter
28 March 1895	George Swannich	Treflach Wood	Labourer
	William Morris	Trefonen	Labourer
	David Bonner	Nantmawr, Llanyblodwel	Rockman

  

Parish constable were appointed to carry out various legal duties including serving summonses, executing warrants and appearing before magistrates. For performing these duties they were paid a fee as agreed at the Shropshire Quarter Sessions in October 1842.

 Example fees were as follows (taken from Ref 2):

Duty	Fee
For going to serve a Summons or execute a Warrant	Sixpence per mile
For each Summons served	1 shilling
For each Warrant executed	2 shillings
For attending before the Magistrate	1 shilling
For each day when employed on duty	Not less than 2s 6d, nor more than 5s.
For attending Assizes or Sessions	Not exceeding 7s per day
For attending the Insolvent Court	5s per day
Taking charge of the courts at the Assizes and Sessions	From 2s 6d to 5s per day
Giving notice to Coroners of deaths	Not exceeding 4d per mile
Summoning Jurors for Inquest	Not exceeding 2s
Each constable attending the Inquest and making return	Not exceeding 2s 6d.
References
1.  Details extracted from Oswestry Town Council Petty Sessions    Records held on fiche at Oswestry Library (fiche nos 314 – 337).
2.   “Table of Fees and Allowances to Parochial Constables” approved in 1842 at Shropshire October Sessions and in Whitehall.