Birmingham City Police
| Birmingham City Police | |
|---|---|
|
Hat badge of the type in use on the last day of the service | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 20 November 1839 |
| Dissolved | 31 March 1974 |
| Superseding agency | West Midlands Police |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | City of Birmingham in the country of England, UK |
| Legal jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Parent agency | Home Office |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
Birmingham City Police was a police force responsible for policing the city of Birmingham in England until 1974, when on 1 April it was amalgamated under the Local Government Act 1972 with West Midlands Constabulary and parts of other forces to form the West Midlands Police.
History
Birmingham town police
Following Chartist rioting in 1839, when one hundred police had to be brought from London, an Act of Parliament was passed on 26 August 1839 "for improving the Police in Birmingham". Birmingham was required to have at least 250 constables and 50 officers.[1] A commissioner was to be appointed by the Home Secretary and report to him.[1] The Birmingham force came into being on 20 November 1839 with 260 men. Francis Burgess, a local barrister, was appointed as the first police commissioner for Birmingham.[2] On 12 August 1842 a new Police Act transferred responsibility to the Birmingham Town Council and another removed doubts as to the authority of the council.[1]
Birmingham City Police
When Birmingham became a city in 1889 the town police became the Birmingham City Police.
Band
The Birmingham City Police Band was, at one period, conducted by Appleby Matthews,[3] organist of the city's St. Philip's Cathedral and the first conductor of the City of Birmingham Orchestra (later the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra). members of the band would sometimes supplement the orchestras numbers.[4]
Chief Constables
Chief Constables of Birmingham City Police included:[5]
- 1839–1842 – Captain Francis Burgess
- 1842–1860 – Richard Stephens
- 1860–1876 – George Glossop
- 1876–1881 – Major Edwin Bond
- 1882–1899 – Joseph Farndale
- 1899–1935 – Sir Charles Haughton Rafter KBE KPM
- 1935–1941 – Cecil Charles Hudson Moriarty CBE OBE CStJ
- 1941–1945 – Sir William C. Johnson
- 1945–1963 – Sir Edward J. Dodd
- 1963–1974 – Sir William Derrick Capper
References
- 1 2 3 Gill, Conrad (1952). History of Birmingham Volume I. Birmingham City Council, Geoffrey Cumberledge, Oxford University Press.
- ↑ "History of the Force". West Midlands Police. Retrieved 2014-04-22.
- ↑ "City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra". Sinfini Music. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
- ↑ Morley, Christopher (4 November 2010). "A glorious 90 years". The Birmingham Post. p. 4.
- ↑ "Birmingham City Police 1839 - 1974". West Midlands Police Museum. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Birmingham City Police. |
- Birmingham Police parade, circa 1914-1918 (Pathé newsreel)
- The Man on the Beat 1945 British Council film about UK policing, made in central Birmingham