History of Policing:

The Bow Street Runners

1748-1829

How important was the work of the Fieldings?

Was this the first step to an official police force?

Was their work a failure?

Watchman or Charley

Bow Street Court 1808-

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Henry Fielding

John Townsend - a famous Bow Street Runner

Bow Street Horse Patrol, early 1800s

The system of crime prevention and law enforcement had hardly changed since the Medieval times. JPs or Justices of the Peace were appointed by the Crown (and had been since 1361). These were assisted by Constables who only worked part-time and were very unreliable as the pay was so bad!

Watchmen were also employed. These were called Charleys after King Charles II who introduced them.

The problem with Charleys was that they were useless! The Lord Mayor of London, Matthew Wood said that they spent very little time patrolling, instead they would be in their boxes playing cards, going to pubs with prostitutes or sleeping! He also said that some of them took bribes from criminals.

London was growing fast, and so was the crime rate, and something needed to be done. The famous writer Henry Fielding (author of Tom Jones) became chief magistrate at Bow Street Court in 1748. He wrote a report about the rise in crime, and published it in 1751.

The Inquiry into the Causes of the Late Increase of Robbers broke down the problems:

--- too many people coming to London expecting an easy life

--- corruption in the government

--- people were choosing crime rather than hard work

--- the constables were mostly useless - only 6 out of 80 were worth keeping on.

He set up a horse patrol and a magazine called the Covent Garden Journal to give people information about crimes and criminals - a bit like the TV programme Crimewatch:UK today!

In 1754 Henry's half-brother John took over the reins. He had been blind since the age of 19. He remained Chief Magistrate for 26 years until 1780 - and could recognise the voices of over 3,000 criminals!

John Fielding - the Blind Beak of Bow Street

Timeline Industrial

External Links

History of the Met

Official history - a great place to start.

The Victorian Police

A history from the website of the Devon-Cornwall Constabulary

Blind Beak of Bow Street

Story of John Fielding from the National Federation for the Blind

Bow Street Covent Garden

History of Bow Street

Police History

From Police999.com

John Fielding

Case Study at the

Learning Curve

Policing

BBC Crime Fighters Website

Bow Street Runners break up a late night party in London, 1824.

How have these changed? Crime, Protest, Punishment and Policing.

What happened in?

Early-Modern

c.1500-1750

Kett's Rebellion, Pilgrimage of Grace, Gunpowder Plot, Vagabonds, Poaching, Smuggling, Highwaymen, Witchcraft, Corporal Punishment, Bloody Code........more

Industrial Britain

c.1750-1900

Theft and robbery, Poverty, Police, Transportation, Prisons, Luddites, Swing Riots, Tolpuddle, Rebecca, Chartism, Prison Reformers, Dock Strike........more

Twentieth Century

c.1900-2000

Suffrage Movement, Conscientious Objectors, General Strike, Hanging, Youth Detention, Fingerprinting, DNA, Surveillance, Drug Crime, Hooliganism, Community Service, Race Crime.........more

Who were?

Robert Aske, Matthew Hopkins, Jonathan Wild, Dick Turpin, John Howard, Elizabeth Fry, Derek Bentley........more

Click to see this

Bow Street truncheon

Timeline of the

John Fielding

Changes

1755

1763

Suggested London be divided into six areas with their own patrols and police stations. Rejected again.

£600 given by the government to hire eight men to patrol the highways - this ended highway robbery, but was not continued!

1772-3

1792

London divided into seven police districts.

1798

1805

1829

Something bigger was needed.

Next - The Peelers - the world's first proper police force.

Bow Street Court,

early 20th century

Click to enlarge

Charlie Rouse - London's last Watchman.

Click to enlarge pic.