A Man of Tact and Ability
As war broke out, one man started his own private detective agency in Sussex. But why did it only last a few months?
One of Hale’s adverts, from the Eastbourne Gazette of 20 May 1914 (via the British Newspaper Archive)
William Thomas Hale arguably started his private detective agency at the wrong time. He had recently retired as superintendent of the Brighton Borough Police, and thought - like many retired policemen and detectives - that becoming a private detective would provide an alternate source of income rather than simply stopping work altogether. Therefore, in May 1914, he started advertising Hale's Private Detective Agency, based from his home on the Ditchling Road in Brighton.
A month later, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed; in July, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and on 4 August, Britain joined the war. As the situation had deteriorated over the summer, with Britain being brought closer and closer to war, William Hale was trying to get business. Perhaps sensitive to the European situation, and the changing role of Britain, there was a gap in his press advertising from the end of June 1914; his next advert did not appear until December that year. His last advert appeared in March 1915.
William Hale died in 1935, so it seems his adventures in private detection were shortlived, and ended with him retiring properly. His police career was far longer, and saw him progress up the social ladder. Born in Somerset, the son of a labourer (who later farmed on a small scale), he had started his career in his mid teens as a domestic gardener. By 1881, he had moved to Sussex, and joined the Brighton Borough Police as a constable.
Two years later, he married Rosanna Hayett, and the couple had eight children, two of whom died before they reached their first birthday. The children's baptisms show William's progress up the career ladder: in 1895, he was listed as a police inspector, and by 1898, he was police superintendent. He retired at some point between 1911 and 1914.
One reason why Hale may not have given his full attention to promoting his detective agency was that his eldest son, Christopher, had joined the Royal Navy in 1905. In early 1915, he was on HMS Victory II, a land-based ship where stokers were trained. In 1915, Victory was moved from Portsmouth to south London, but Christopher was not there for long: he was invalided out from the Royal Navy later in 1915, suffering from neurasthenia.
This was a vaguely defined weakness of the nerves, with symptoms including depression, headaches, and anxiety, and it was starting to be ascribed to those who took part in the war as a result of the associated stress. Perhaps William Hale was anxious about his son, and the war, and these were more important considerations to him than his fledgling business. Alternatively, the need for private detectives in Brighton at this specific time may not have been sufficient to keep his agency afloat.
Hale had everything going for him in terms of his agency, though. He had a wealth of experience in the police, something that would also boost his reputation as a private detective - people would see him as dependable and trustworthy. He had also lived locally for decades, so would have been known and respected within his community.
However, the fact that he was based from home would give the impression of his business being a small one: those with more ambition would rent an office address to suggest success and staff. Although we can't know, more than a century later, why Hale's Private Detective Agency didn't last, the combination of war, family circumstances, and competition may all have played a part.