1800s Early History Of The Metropolitan Police, London. #BritishHistory #RegencyEra #police #London
The Metropolitan Police, London Before 1829
Policing in the 17th and 18th centuries – one unarmed able-bodied citizen in each parish a man was appointed or elected annually to serve for a year unpaid as parish constable.
Worked in co-operation with the local Justices in observing laws and maintaining order.
In towns, responsibility for the maintenance of order was conferred on the guilds
Later conferred on other specified groups of citizens
These supplied bodies of paid men, known as The Watch
The Watch guarded the gates and patrolled the streets at night
Huge social and economic changes and increases in town populations meant parish constables and Watch systems couldn’t cope.
In 1812, 1818 and 1822, Parliamentary committees investigated crime and policing.
Impotence of the law-enforcement machinery was a serious menace
Conditions became intolerable and led to the formation of the New Police
The Metropolitan Police
Established by an Act of Parliament in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel
Peel appointed 2 Commissioners
Appointed 895 Constables, 88 Sergeants, 20 Inspectors and 8 Superintendents.
Superseded the local Watch in the London area but the City of London was not covered.
Numbers increased
Grew to include the Greater London area (excluding the City of London)
Included parts of the Home Counties and all Royal Naval Dock Yards throughout the country.
First officer was given the warrant number ‘1’
Today the service is reaching near to a quarter million
The warrant number is unique to the officer
Different from the shoulder number which changes as the officer moves stations. Scotland Yard
Colonel Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne organized and designed the New Police
The two Commissioners occupied a private house at 4, Whitehall Place
The back opened on to a courtyard and used as a police station
This address led to the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police being known as Scotland Yard.
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Home Secretary. Regarded as the father of modern British policing as he founded the Metropolitan Police Service.
Other Police organizations
Some older police establishments remained outside control of the Metropolitan Police Office
The Bow Street Patrols, mounted and foot, commonly called the Bow Street runners.
Police Office constables attached to the offices of, and under the control of, the Magistrates.
The Marine or River Police.
By 1839 all these establishments had been absorbed by the Metropolitan Police Force.
The City of London Police was set up in 1839 and is an independent force to this day.
Michael Brandon travels to introduce the woman he loves to family but is shocked when his missing brother, presumed dead for years, arrives at the country estate of the Duke Of Sherwyn where several people are stranded due to a severe snow storm. https://books2read.com/suziloveDS December Scandal, Book 3, Scandalous Siblings.
19th Century Early. Gilt and Patinated Bronze Inkstand , or Encrier, or a little reservoir of ink. Rectangular base mounted with a round lidded ink pot with a porcelain container and a sand pot, each raised on winged lion feet, centered by a palm decorated columnar carrying handle, with two pen holes. The type of inkstand that households woulds have in Jane Austen’s times for writing letters and keeping track of estate matters. via 1st Dibs Auctions 1stdibs.com
1845-1865 ca. Cream Silk Evening Slippers, British. Cream evening shoes with ankle ties and lace trim. Trim is unusual because mid 19th Century ladies’ shoes were often plain as only toes showed beneath fashionable long skirts. Designed By Hobbs, famous London shoemaker, and with a label attached to lining with a regal crest to show maker’s royal patronage. via Metropolitan Museum, NYC, U.S.A. metmuseum.org
1806 White Bodice and Red Scarf. Various Hats, Bonnets and an evening headdress. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. French fashions like this were copied by English magazines so these styles of hats would have been worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
Cheltenham Spa, England: Pittville Pump Room: Cheltenham is a famous spa town within easy reach of the Cotswolds in in the county of Gloucestershire, England, and was a popular Georgian and Regency spa town where one could rest and recuperate. It became famous as a Spa town following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the most complete Regency town in Britain. The Pittville Pump Room is an elegant Grade 1 listed Regency building and perhaps the most famous example of Regency architecture in Cheltenham, despite the town being filled Regency buildings. The Pittville Pump Room was the last and largest of the spa buildings to be built in Cheltenham.
Location: The Pump Room stands at one end of Pittville Park, about two miles from Cheltenham’s town centre, and is a monument to more than 100 years of fame which Cheltenham enjoyed as a Spa town. The building is set in beautiful parkland and is surrounded on three sides by a grand colonnade of ionic columns opening into the impressive hall with its domed ceiling and original crystal chandeliers. The park has extensive open lawns surrounded by trees and ornate bridges and pathways lead around the lakes where swans and ducks swim.
Cheltenham Tour Map. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
History: The waters were first discovered in around 1715 on a site now occupied by Cheltenham Ladies’ College. In 1788 George III and Queen Charlotte came to take the waters and it was their visit that set the seal on Cheltenham’s future. After a visit to Cheltenham, a banker named Joseph Pitt commissioned the architect John Forbes to design a pump room that was to act as the centrepiece to his vision of a town to rival Cheltenham – a town he would call Pittville.
The foundation stone was laid on 4 May 1825 and the work completed in 1830. The laying of the foundation was celebrated by the ringing of the bells, firing of cannons, as well as a Masonic Procession which set out from the Masonic Hall in Portland Street. In the evening banquets were held at two of the town’s hotels and grand fireworks display was to be seen at Pittville. The building took five years to complete. Following disagreements between Forbes and the builder, a second architect, John Clement Mead from London, was employed to finish the interior. He designed the elaborate stoves which heated the building. The original official opening on 6th July, 1830 was postponed until 20th July, 1830 because of the death of George IV. A grand public breakfast and ball marked the occasion.
1830 Pittville Park. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. 1831 Pittville Park. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. 1834 View Of Pump House Outside Cheltenham. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Poster: Pittville Pump Room latest and grandest water spas built in Cheltenham.1820s Early Joseph Pitt, Banker.
Commissioned architect John Forbes to design a pump room
as centrepiece to his vision of a town to rival Cheltenham,
a town he would call Pittville.1825 May Foundation Stone laid for Pittville.
1830 Pittville completed.Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
Building the Pump Room: The total cost of the project was over £40,000, and incredible price for that time. Like many bankers of his time, Pitt ran into financial difficulties, the building went out of favour and was sold in 1890 to the Borough of Cheltenham for £5,400, a fraction of the original cost. The building is decorated in Ionic style and the great hail reflects the genius of John Forbes with the spa opening on the north side and the gallery and dome surmounting the hall.
The grand building is 92 feet long by 43 feet, surrounded by a colonnade 13 feet wide the roof of which are supported by fluted Ionic columns 22 feet high. Along the facade stand three figures representing Aesculapius, Hygeia and Hippocrates, originally made by Lucius Gahagan of Bath. In its design, the building combines elements of both Greek and Roman architecture. It was modelled on the temple on Illisus in Athens, the engravings of which appeared in Stuart and Revett’s Antiquities of Athens (1762).
The inspiration for the dome probably came from the Panthenon in Rome. A large ballroom was situated on the ground floor where even today visitors can attend music concerts, dances and other events. With a capacity of 400 and remarkable acoustics, it is Cheltenham’s finest concert venue. The spa with an oval pump room to the rear of the building are still there for the visitors to enjoy, available from a marbled pump and counter. A reading room, library and billiard room occupied the first floor.
Third well pumped surface water and housed
the many pipes running the other wells. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Pump, Or Tabernacle, Opened in 1830.
Dispensed unique salty mineral rich water. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Looking down the well. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Two wells with side tunnels supplied spa water. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Diagram of the pump.Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. View from pump house upper level.Side View. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Rotunda. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Rotunda and exterior of building. Rotunda. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Ionic columns surrounding the Pump House. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Exterior with Ionic columns. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Exterior Brick and Windows. Pittville Pump House, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
Fashion History: “Cheltenham will be the summer village of all that is fashionable and all that is dignified; the residence of the royal ” family being a thing quite new so far from the metropolis . Already we hear of nothing but Cheltenham modes — the Cheltenham cap — the Cheltenham bonnets — the Cheltenham buttons — the Cheltenham buckles , in short all the fashions are completely Cheltenhamized throughout Great Britain.” via 1826 Griffith’s New Historical Description of Cheltenham and Its Vicinity.
Second World War: The Pump Room housed British and American army personnel, when dry rot was allowed to creep through the structure unchecked, and only after the war was the full extent of the damage revealed. Plaster, brickwork, timber: nearly everything had been affected. The dome was only held in position by a shell of plaster; the timber had been eaten away by the fungus.
The Duke of Wellington: Public subscriptions carne to the rescue, which were accompanied by Public Works grants and Historic Building Council contributions. A total of £43,250 was raised and by 1960 the building was partially restored to its former glory and reopened in 1960 by the Duke of Wellington. The old card room had been replaced by a new foyer, cloakrooms and second staircase, and heating and new lighting were in stalled.
Recent History: In 2003, the old Victorian wells were leaking and allowing ground water to dilute the natural mineral water so Pittville Pump Room no longer qualified as a spa and the well was shut down. The spa was then repaired and reopened so visitors can taste the only alkaline spa water in the country. The Pump Room’s old maple-strip floor was replaced with a stunning English oak floor, better flooring found for the ball room, and old pipes replaced. Nowadays the Pittville Pump Room is in use most days of the year for private and public functions and is one of Cheltenham’s most popular wedding venues. The venue is also used frequently by orchestras, choirs and chamber groups because it has stunning acoustics.
19th Century Early Cotton Trousers, British. Buttons at waist, drop down front flap with buttons. and cut with excess material to allow easy movement. via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org. The style of men’s breeches worn by men at the end of the 1700s and early 1800s, or in Jane Austen’ lifetime.
19th Century Early Cotton Trousers, British. Buttons at waist, drop down front flap with buttons. and cut with excess material to allow easy movement. via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org 19th Century Early Cotton Trousers, British. Buttons at waist, drop down front flap with buttons. and cut with excess material to allow easy movement. via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org 19th Century Early Cotton Trousers, British. Buttons at waist, drop down front flap with buttons. and cut with excess material to allow easy movement. via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org 19th Century Early Cotton Trousers, British. Buttons at waist, drop down front flap with buttons. and cut with excess material to allow easy movement. via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org 19th Century Early Cotton Trousers With Front Fall, British. #JaneAusten #RegencyEra #Men #Fashion https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionMen1800-1819 Click To TweetHN_23_d2d_fashionmen1800-1819
https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionMen1800-1819
In Jane Austen’s years of the early nineteenth century, women often wore light-weight dresses under which was worn a range of underclothing to stop gowns appearing transparent and sticking to a lady’s body. To preserve modesty, underclothing included a chemise next to the skin, then a corset, and then petticoats to give shape to a dress and to keep it away from her body.
19th Century Early Brown Trousers, American. Button waist, drop down front flap, or fall, and extra fabric in the back for easy movement. via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org
Though these pants are American, the men in Jane Austen’s life would have worn similar trousers in England. The horizontal front flap was called a ‘fall’ which unbuttoned to drop down. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionMen1800-1819
19th Century Early Men’s Trousers as worn by the men in Jane Austen’s family and life. Textured cotton woven with small dash motif. Wide waistband double row five ivory bone buttons, fall front bone buttons plus button centre front, two large pockets, full width flap with buttonholes and with wide legs. via Meg Andrews, Costumes and Textiles. Meg-andrews.com
19th Century Early Men’s Trousers.
Decorative textured cotton woven with a small dash motif. Wide waistband, double row of five ivory bone buttons, fall front with five bone buttons plus front button, two pockets, full width flap, wide legs at thighs tapering slightly and then straight, back with deep V cutout, ivory bone buttons above buckle and tab fastening, top lined in cotton. Via Meg Andrews Auction
19th Century Early Men’s Trousers.
Decorative textured cotton woven with a small dash motif. Wide waistband, double row of five ivory bone buttons, fall front with five bone buttons plus front button, two pockets, full width flap, wide legs at thighs tapering slightly and then straight, back with deep V cutout, ivory bone buttons above buckle and tab fastening, top lined in cotton. Via Meg Andrews Auction
