BEFORE THE BOBBIES
Before the Bobbies The Night Watch and Police Reform in Metropolitan London, 1720-1830 Elaine A. Reynolds Associate Professor of History William Jewell College Liberty Missouri USA
Elaine A. Reynolds 1998 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1998 978-0-333-69936-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 1998 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-1-349-14563-8 ISBN 978-1-349-14561-4 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-14561-4 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98
To all my teachers, especially my parents
Contents List of Maps Acknowledgements viii ix 1 Introduction 1 2 Westminster, 1720-39 7 3 An Expanding Watch, 1748-76 29 4 Collaboration, 1750-74 45 5 New Means to Old Ends 58 6 The War Years, 1793-1815 84 7 Night Watch to Police, 1811-28 103 8 Why 1829? 125 9 Charlies to Bobbies 148 Notes 167 Select Bibliography 205 Index 220 vii
List of Maps 1.1 Parochial Night Watch Acts, 1735-1823 9.1 Establishment of the New Police, 1829-30 2 150 viii
Acknowledgements This book came about because I always liked Chief Inspector Parker better than Lord Peter Wimsey. A mystery fan, I was intrigued by fictional Scotland Yard detectives and wanted to know more. So when I had to write a doctoral dissertation, I gravitated to Robert Peel and the origins of the Metropolitan Police. All the work in that project is distilled here. Thus all the gratitude I owe to the people who helped with that is still owed. I would especially like to thank Daniel Baugh for his continued support and encouragement, above and beyond what most doctoral supervisors give. Since completing the dissertation, I have received generous fmancial support from the taxpayers of the state of New York, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and William Jewell College. My debts to many libraries and archives and all their staff are enormous. I would especially like to thank all the local history librarians and archivists all over London. I know their warm welcome was due, in part, to the fact that I was not a genealogist but this project could not have. happened without their never-failing assistance. I would especially like to thank Alison Kenney, Westminster City Archives; Elise Fisher, Curry Library, William Jewell College; the British Studies Center at the University of Colorado; and the Watson and Spencer Libraries at the University of Kansas. My colleagues have also been a source of great encouragement and advice. Isaac Kramnick, Steve Kaplan, Victor Bailey, Ruth Paley, John Beattie, Simon Devereaux, Ken Chatlos, and Thresa Pugh Rupp have either read parts of the manuscript or listened to me whine about it with great patience and offered much wisdom. Without the help of Norris Pope at Stanford University Press, I probably would have given up on finding a publisher. I also thank Timothy Farmiloe and his staff at Macmillan for their interest and help. My students at William Jewell College have endured more than their fair share of hearing about my writing with good humour and patience. I owe special thanks to my work-study assistants - Julia Vargas, Michelle Thrvey, and Kathryn Best. I thank the editors of The Historian for allowing material that appeared in my article, 'St. Marylebone: Local Police Reform in London, 1755-1829,' 51 (1989) to be used here. My friends and family have lived with this book for as long as I have and with better grace. Kit Bardwell, Michael Harrison, Jean Hawkins, Lowell Jacobsen, Tim Whetten, the William Jewell research support group, and the Cross-Currents Choir for Social Justice helped keep me ix
X Acknowledgements relatively sane. But I never would have made it without the steady support of my parents and family. Thank you seems hardly adequate. ELAINE A. REYNOlDS Liberty, Missouri