Stratford was a police officer for several years before transferring to the Met for personal reasons. He worked at Scotland Yard from 1877. In 1884, he took a day’s leave for private matters; this was the day of the Scotland Yard bombings and several of his colleagues were maimed. Stratford was assigned to the case of Gordon Seavers, a young man who had committed suicide. He visited Professor Sowerden at the University of Oxford and questioned him; he had taught Seavers.