Tales of the Riverbank – Early Origins

Yesterday’s post was a bit long so I thought that today’s missive might benefit from being somewhat shorter and that we might have a brief look at the early history of the Thames River Police.

Why did London need a marine police force 31 years before Peel put the Metropolitan Police in place?

In the latter years of the 18th Century Britain was a nation at war with France under Napoleon but the economy was losing a vast amount of money due to various criminal activities…. The River Thames was identified as one vitally important commercial area that was being particularly hard hit by felonies….The biggest losers to these criminal endeavours were those involved in the most valuable trade….Those trading in the Caribbean. Of the £500,000 pounds that it was estimated was being lost to theft each year, about half that amount was from the West India Merchants and Planters and those merchants were very keen to mitigate their losses…..Patrick Colquhoun, a Scottish magistrate working in London wrote a book, A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis (1795)…. In this work he detailed all the criminal activity that took place in London (including the various depredations that occurred on the River Thames) and he proposed a radical solution….A more efficient system of policing….The people of London were very keen to read about all the criminal activity that took place in their city….But they did not welcome the idea of an organised system of policing…..Their chief objections involved cost, effects on civil rights and liberties and they were also concerned that an official body of police might be similar to the system that existed in Paris at the time of the French Revolution…..The thought of guillotines replacing public hangings was too much to bear!……The West India Merchants and Colquhoun approached the Home Secretary (Duke of Portland) and requested greater protection for their ships coming into London….Reluctantly he agreed to an experiment (that would be paid for by the W. I. Merchants) and it was agreed that a small body of police would be allowed to work on the Thames (based at Wapping) to protect W.I. vessels from criminal attacks….The cost would be £4,200 per annum (paid for by the W.I. merchants)….The force would be overseen by two magistrates (Patrick Colquhoun assisted by “The Indefatigable” John Harriott)….The West India merchants and Planters Marine Police Institute was launched on Monday morning, July 2nd 1798 at 0500….. In that first year of operation it saved the W.I. merchants £100,000…..It also saved the Government £50,000 in taxes and duties…..In 1800 The Marine Police Act was passed taking responsibility for the Thames Police away from the W.I. merchants and making the Marine Police an official body of Police under the Home Secretary…..This remained the case until 1839 when the Marine Police were absorbed into the later Metropolitan Police (formed in 1829) as The Thames Division.

Was this new Marine Police based solely at Wapping?

It quickly became clear that in order for the Thames Police to operate efficiently in their rowing galleys they would need other bases other than the Wapping Police Office. To this end the Marine Police acquired some old Royal Naval vessels and located them at strategic positions on the river within their patrol areas (at Blackwall Point and between Waterloo and Blackfriars Bridges)….These vessels would be both home and workplace for those unmarried officers who worked on them….When a naval vessel was anchored it was said to be “On Station” so these vessels rapidly became known as Police Stations…..A name that stuck to all police offices.

When those early officers went out on their patrols, they would “Beat” up and down the river, with or against the prevailing tide…. This gave rise to the police officers patrolling the ‘Beat’

What sort of skills would early marine police require and what were the ranks involved?

The first patrolling officers (about 40 in number) were known as ‘Watermen’ (later Watermen Constables) and they were supervised by ‘Surveyors’…..Surveyors would all be Master Mariners….The Watermen would be drawn mainly from experienced seamen or watermen….The only attributes they would really require were to be able to row a galley, fire a pistol and use a sword…..Therefore sailors returning from the Napoleonic Wars would be particularly useful…… In addition to these patrolling officers there were also a much larger group of ‘Lumpers’ (about 800). These were employed by the W.I. Merchants to unload their ships and would replace the old Lumpers who were often linked with dishonesty during the course of their work. (Hardly surprising really as most of them were unpaid and had to feed their families from what they could scavenge as their “Perks of the Job”.

Next week we can look at some of the early events in the history of the Thames river police and we shall be discussing violent riots, shocking murders and disastrous shipwrecks.

Thanks for all the kind comments so far but if anyone has any questions, please do ask questions….But a warning…..The death toll will be rising considerably over the next few days and those of a nervous disposition may wish to avert their eyes!

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend….And to everybody in the USA, may I wish a very happy Independence Day. Enjoy!

Rob