London Metropolitan Police historic timeline

Published by neil on November 4th, 2007

Research time… Table Rappers takes place around the first few years of the 20th Century: the Edwardian period. One of the main characters is a member of the Metropolitan Police. Although these stories were never intended to be particularly detailed historically, a certain amount of accuracy, such as when fingerprints were first used for example, is essential in setting the scene and time correctly.

Thankfully, the Metropolitan Police website has a bunch of info, including a fairly detailed timeline, about policing in London since the creation of the original Bow Street Runners in 1748. I found this pretty interest, so perhaps you will too:

• 1748: Bow Street Runners started
• 1763: Introduction of the Bow Street Horse Patrol
• 1789: Marine Police Founded
• 1829: September, formation of Metropolitan Police
• 1830: First MET officer to be killed on duty, PC Joseph Grantham
• 1831: Special Constable Act created
• 1833: Coldbath Fields Riots (Grays Inn Road), handled with the use of force. PC Robert Culley was killed and the jury returned a verdict of Justifiable Homicide
• 1837: Bow Street horse patrol was transferred to the Metropolitan Police
• 1838: Bow Street Runners and Marine Police absorbed into the Metropolitan Police
• 1842: Formation of the Detective Department
• 1846: Plain clothed officers used frequently by this time
• 1848: 150,000 special constables were sworn in for handling Chartist Demonstrations
• 1858: First police van for transporting prisoners, called Black Marias
• 1870: Standard height requirement for officers set to 5’8” (except Thames Division, 5’7”)
• 1872: First police strike
• 1877: Trial of force detectives exposes internal corruption
• 1878: Detective Department was renamed the CID
• 1879: Rules established for dealing with murder cases
• 1886: Started training of horses for controlling disorderly demonstrations
• 1887: “Bloody Sunday” riot on 13th November - Trafalgar Square
• 1888: Jack the Ripper murders
• 1890: Opening of new offices known as New Scotland Yard
• 1895: Height restrictions raised to 5’9”
• 1898: Calls for officers to be armed with revolvers following assaults and the murder of a PC
• 1900: Construction of a floating police station at Waterloo Pier
• 1901: First police photographer employed
• 1901: Fingerprint Bureau formed
• 1902: First conviction by fingerprinting
• 1905: First murder conviction by fingerprinting
• 1907: 13 February, clash between police and 800 Suffragettes outside House of Commons
• 1910: Dr Crippen arrested with the aid of radio telegraphy and forensics
• 1912: First recorded conviction with ballistics evidence
• 1914: Women police founded
• 1915: London Ambulance Service commences operation

The actual timeline and information has more detail than the above, including details of expansions of the force over the years, changes in regulartions, etc., and carries on much later than 1915. It includes some fairly modern events such as the investigation and arrest of the Kray twins in1968, but of course that timeline is irrelevant to my current research.

Metropolitan Police Website
MET Police history and timelines

Tags: History, Jack the Ripper, Metropolitan Police, New Scotland Yard, police, research, Table Rappers, timeline
Posted in Table Rappers |