The Peelers - the world's first police force.

Why was the Metropolitan Police formed in 1829?

Who was Robert Peel?

Peelers at work - click to enlarge

Sir Robert Peel

An old cartoon mocking the Peelers

Another engraving of a Bobby on the Beat

Peelers

What were the objections to the forming of a police force?

Some people believed that if the people wanted one they should do it themselves, not have the government do it for them.

It was also feared that the police force would be used to arrest opponents of the government, stop protests and destroy free speech. It was thought that the idea of a police force belonged in a foreign country.

How did it come about?

Robert Peel became the Tory Home Secretary in 1822. The Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 set up an organised police force for London, with 17 divisions, each with 4 inspectors and 144 constables. It was to be controlled from Scotland Yard, and answerable to the Home Secretary.

What were the early police like?

They became known as 'Peelers' and 'Bobbies' after their founder, and wore a dark blue longcoat and a tall hat which they could use to stand on and look over walls. Blue was chosen because it was the colour of the popular Royal Navy rather than red which was the army's colour and struck fear into the people because of the way soldiers had been used to smash protests. The only weapon was a truncheon.

How did the public react?

They hated the Peelers. Many were poor quality - drunks and bullies. Of the first 2,800 new policemen, only 600 kept their jobs. The first policeman, given the number 1, was sacked after only FOUR HOURS! (He was legless)

In 1833 PC Robert Culley was stabbed to death after the police broke up a political meeting. The jury acquitted the man who killed him, and a newspaper awarded the jurors medals! JPs were also angry that they had no control of the police.

Eventually however the impact upon crime, particularly organised crime led to an acceptance, if not approval, of the Bobbies.

Timeline Industrial

External Links

North East Police History

Some great photographs and information.

The Peel Web

Page about police and prisons

Met Police Roll of Honour

List of all Met police officers killed in the line of duty

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, Peterloo, Swing Riots, 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 enlarge this lovely picture of old Scotland Yard - the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police until 1890.

So that's London - what about

the rest of the country?

The Rural Constabulary Act meant that County Police Forces could be set up in any of the 54 counties of England.

This was all still optional. By 1850 only 36 counties had done so.