Bertie Bolton

Robert Henry Dundas Bolton OBE (13 January 1893 – 30 October 1964) was an English first-class cricketer, soldier, police officer and Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Constabulary.

The son of Edward Crawford Bolton,[1] he was born in British India at Mysore in January 1893. He was educated at Rossall School, where he played for the school cricket team.[2] Bolton played minor counties cricket for Dorset from 1910 to 1912, making sixteen appearances in the Minor Counties Championship.[3] In 1913, he made two appearances in first-class cricket for Hampshire against Cambridge University and Warwickshire, the latter in the County Championship.[4] Four months into the First World War, he was commissioned into the British Indian Army Reserve as a second lieutenant in November 1914.[5] He served in the East African campaign with the 101st Grenadiers from 27 November 1914 to 3 September 1916,[6] and was promoted to lieutenant in November 1915.[7] The regiment was transferred to Palestine and here he saw service from 4 September 1916 to 31 October 1918. He was transferred to the 2nd battalion 101st Grenadiers on its formation at Suez on 3 February 1917.[6] On 4 June 1917 he was appointed to the Indian Army as a lieutenant with seniority from 13 August 1916.[8] Following the war, he was made acting captain between 6 February and 8 December 1919,[9] before being promoted to captain in August 1919.[10] He saw service in Waziristan between 1919 and 1921.[6]

Following his service in Waziristan, he returned to England in the summer of 1921. He resumed playing first-class cricket for Hampshire, making two appearances in the 1921 County Championship against Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. The following season, he made a further three first-class appearances in the County Championship.[4] For Hampshire, he made seven first-class appearances. In these, he scored 121 runs at an average of 10.08, with a highest score of 24.[11] On 18 November 1921, he transferred to the Duke of Wellington's Regiment of the British Army.[6] He retired from military service in November 1933, retaining the rank of captain.[12] Bolton then proceeded to join the Metropolitan Police and in 1941, he became Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Constabulary.[13] He would hold this post until 1960.[6] He was made an OBE in the 1952 New Year Honours.[14] During his time with Northamptonshire Constabulary, he also acted as a team selector for Northamptonshire.[2] Bolton died in St Pancras in October 1964.[2]