The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

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Leodian
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The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

Post by Leodian »

While searching for an unrelated item I came across a most interesting item that I hope will be of interest. In its long title it states 'The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds...within one mile of the bars thereof' and is dated 1844. The item is 169 pages long but there are many blank pages.

This is one link to the item http://tinyurl.com/jdv4eqc and this is a link to the item in PDF file http://tinyurl.com/hk8gdtg. I have used a program to shorten what were otherwise very long URLs.

The descriptions of the police beats may be bland reading but I think they are fascinating. There are figures by each beat that I suspect may be furlongs, as 10 for example would thus be 2,200 yards so only 1¼ miles.
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

jma
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Re: The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

Post by jma »

That looks very interesting, but I'll have to find time to read it in any detail later. By the time I joined Leeds City Police (1967) fixed beats had been superseded by Noddy Bikes which were on the point of being superseded themselves by Panda Cars. The big change, of course, being the introduction of various types of radio communication in the post-war years.

Having said that, fixed beats were not a distant memory and older colleagues remembered working them and I suspect that the only changes between 1844 and 1954 related to the increase in the size of the city and changes in the names of buildings etc. (1944 would have been different during the war.) Having patrolling officers working beats like this meant that their whereabouts could, in theory at least, be predicted fairly accurately. To prevent the baddies knowing, the actual working of the beats would be varied and only announced on the parade (briefing) at the start of each shift. So, it would be announced, for example, that beats would be worked backwards, a quarter in front. In that example, the beat books would be followed in reverse direction but the "points" would be made fifteen minutes before the specified time. At the conclusion of the parade, the PC's had only a short time to work it out then get to their first point. That was in the days of firm discipline and sergeants would be chasing about trying to catch the constables out to report them for failing to work their beat in accordance with orders.

Arresting somebody for an offence was an excellent reason for being away from the beat and one older colleague explained that even in the early 1950's, the entire shift at Millgarth Street would be marched out of the station by a sergeant to get everybody smartly onto their beat. Especially on nights, the trick was to spot somebody falling about drunk and then down to the Bridewell for the paperwork and an early finish for court.

When Unit Beat Policing (Panda Cars etc) was introduced there was some sort of formula to equate the beats with workload, but as time progressed, it was simply a matter of reducing the number of beat cars to a minimum ie increasing the area covered by each car.

TABBYCAT
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Re: The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

Post by TABBYCAT »

Excellent find there Leodian and a superb follow up post Jma :D , I suspect Ian Smith of Otley will be along very soon. :lol:

volvojack
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Re: The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

Post by volvojack »

Great subject.

My Mother use to tell us stories about the district,The Bank Richmond Hill when her Father was a Police Officer in the City Force, late 1800s maybe around the turn of the 1900s. and possibly stationed at Marsh Lane.
It seems that officers when patrolling that area at night had to beware as this was the days long before inside toilets and sometimes the contents of a po / gazunder were thrown out of an upstairs window onto the unsuspecting officer. apparently this could also be quite a dangerous place so the officers patrolled in pairs at night.


The most famous and feared Officer was a P.C. who's nickname the vllians used to call him i just can't recall but it seems to be because he had a clockwork motion when he walked and used to lay into trouble makers with his truncheon.he was adept at breaking up "Pitch and Toss" gangs as unemployment was high so there was lots of gambling.
As a coincidence when my Grand dad retired he then became the Licensee of the Great Nothern, a Pub just off Church Road on the Bank where he said he was, at times reunited with quite a few of his "Old Customers"


Leodian, Is it possible to access records of the Beats of that area at that time.?

dogduke
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Re: The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

Post by dogduke »

I think the guy Jack was on about was known
As Rocking horse


..
Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.90% of being smart is knowing what you're dumb at.

volvojack
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Joined: Tue 26 Jan, 2016 11:57 am

Re: The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

Post by volvojack »

dogduke"]I think the guy Jack was on about was known
As Rocking horse


Absolutely correct dogduke. for some reason i had "Clockwork" in my head and yet knew that was not it.

Do you know any more about him ?.

dogduke
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Re: The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

Post by dogduke »

Local characters thread on this site page 14 and search local history site
Eastleedsmemories.WordPress.com

He was William Bartle who joined the police in 1907,a big bit before my time.
My Dad born 1916 knew of him
Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.90% of being smart is knowing what you're dumb at.

dogduke
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Re: The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

Post by dogduke »

Sorry.one more Jack
Leodis,photo headed Meadow Lane police station.
Good entry in that
Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.90% of being smart is knowing what you're dumb at.

jma
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Joined: Fri 05 Aug, 2016 3:38 pm

Re: The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

Post by jma »

The Rocking Horse is mentioned in the official history of Leeds Police on page 93. He was PC 568 William Bartle who served in Leeds from 1907 to 1933 dying in 1956. Apparently he was the subject of an article in the Yorkshire Evening Post in 1969 which attracted the reminiscences of readers, largely about his efficiency in controlling disorder in the part of Leeds then known as The Bank.
==================================================
:oops: I see I've been beaten to it: it took a lot of reading to find the reference, which I knew was in there somewhere.

volvojack
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Joined: Tue 26 Jan, 2016 11:57 am

Re: The beats of the police of the Borough of Leeds in 1844.

Post by volvojack »

[quote="dogduke"]Sorry.one more Jack
Leodis,photo headed Meadow Lane police station.
Good entry in that.

No apologies necessary thank you, as i have family connections, As my brother and I went to Mount St Mary's School overlooking what was left of the Bank slum clearance i find all of this extremely interesting.

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