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SIR ROBERT "BOBBY" PEEL (1788 - 1850)  

In Britain today all policemen are commonly referred to as ‘Bobbies’!  Originally though, they were known as ‘Peelers’ as they were the creation of one Sir Robert Peel.

The Peelers were the Metropolitan Police Force, which Sir Robert founded when he was Home Secretary in Lord Liverpool’s Tory Cabinet. Today it is hard to believe that Britain in the early 1800’s did not have a professional Police Force and that one had to be created.

Sir Robert Peel had already established the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1812, and it had proved to be a great success. It became obvious that something similar to the Irish force was needed in London, so in 1829 the Metropolitan Police Act was passed which provided permanently appointed and paid Constables.

© Greater Manchester Police Museum

The first thousand of Peel’s police, dressed in blue Tail-coats and top hats, began to patrol the streets of London on 29^th September 1829. The uniform was carefully selected to make the ‘Peelers’ look more like ordinary citizens, rather that a red-coated soldier with a helmet.

The 'Peelers' were issued with a wooden truncheon carried in a long pocket in the tail of their coat, a pair of handcuffs and a wooden rattle to raise the alarm. By the 1880s this rattle had been replaced by a whistle.

To be a ‘Peeler’ the rules were quite strict. You had to be 6ft tall (or as near as possible), and have no history of any wrong-doings.

These men became the model for the creation of all the provincial forces; at first in the London Boroughs, and then into the counties and towns, after the passing of the County Police Act in 1839. An ironic point however;  the Lancashire town of Bury, birthplace of Sir Robert, was the only major town which elected not to have its own separate police force. The town remained part of the Lancashire Constabulary until 1974.

Early Victorian police worked seven days a week, with only five days unpaid holiday a year for which they received the grand sum of £1 per week. Their lives were strictly controlled; they were not allowed to vote in elections and required permission to get married and even to share a meal with a civilian. To allay the public’s suspicion of being spied upon, officers were required to wear their uniforms both on and off duty.

In spite of the huge success of his ‘Bobbies’, Peel was not a well liked man. Queen Victoria is said to have found him ‘A cold, unfeeling, disagreeable man’. They had many personal conflicts over the years, and when he spoke against awarding her ‘darling’ Prince Albert an annual income of £50,000, he did little to endear himself to the Queen.

When Peel was Prime Minister, he and the Queen had a further disagreement over her ‘Ladies of the Bedchamber’. Peel insisting that she accepted some ‘Tory’ ladies in preference to her ‘Whig’ ladies.

Although Peel was a skilful politician, he had few social graces, and had a reserved, off-putting manner.

After a long and distinguished career, Sir Robert came to an unfortunate end …he was thrown from his horse while riding on Constitution Hill in London on 29^th June 1850, and died three days later.

Sir Robert Peel

His legacy remains however as long as the British ‘Bobbies’ patrol the streets and keep the population safe from wrong-doers …and help lost tourists find their way back to the comfort of their hotels!

Useful links:

A Short History of Policing in Greater Manchester  http://www.gmp.police.uk/mainsite/pages/gmphistory.htm

The Greater Manchester Police Museum http://www.gmp.police.uk/mainsite/pages/history.htm

© EPC

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