“Peelers Progress”

“PEELERS PROGRESS” Policing Waltham Abbey since 1840 by Bryn Elliott Foreword The police in Waltham Abbey are not a unique band of men and women in themselves. The station buildings occupied by the police in the locality were never structures considered in the forefront of architectural style. Although there were a few well known cases, no mind shattering, world famous crimes were ever said to have taken place in the area, and yet...... Here is a story of one relatively insignificant police station situated for 160 years on the outer edges of the Metropolitan Police District. It may be a surprise to learn that from the pages of this story that some well known cases were indeed enacted within its jurisdiction, and that the officers serving there were, on occasion, embroiled in famous events outside of the town. In writing this history of Waltham Abbey police officers, and the buildings in which they served, I have attempted to refrain from setting down the whole history of local law and order. Brief mention is made of the arrangement in force prior to the arrival of the Metropolitan Police in the area, hopefully in context. Other than those few instances I have avoided the period that would inevitably include such well known figures as the highwaymen Dick Turpin and the Gregory Gang, who included large swathes of Epping Forest in their plundering forays. Highwaymen have strong connections with the area during the 18th Century, but this is primarily the story of the modern police and the locality they served. It is unfortunate that few of the 19th Century local historians thought fit to make more than a passing mention of their local police force. Their omission had the effect of placing me in the position of unearthing the whole story, and a great joy it has been too. In a number of instances much of the Victorian era is served by recounting matters of a general nature, these fortunately being supported by a number of enlightening local incidents which are set, perhaps unfairly, against a far greater weight of modern material. It is to provide balance that many well documented recent cases are often deliberately in receipt of only scant coverage. The basis of this story was a short document produced in the 1970s for the 150th anniversary of the 1829 formation of the Metropolitan Police. This document has been quoted freely and, in time, checked against archives. This project took so long to bring to print, over a decade, that other matters have tended to leave it temporarily in the shadows. That time has now passed. To the compilers of the original short story must go the lions share of the credit. Without the work of three ex-Sun Street policemen, John Creagh from the 1940s, Robert Draper from the 1950s and Anthony Sharples from the 1960s and 1970s there would have been no easy start. Working with the Archives section at New Scotland Yard these three produced an inviting, but empty, substance. Having started a quest for detail I was to find many supportive groups and individuals both inside the town and beyond. Many were reticent to start with, but these were amply outnumbered by enthusiasts. To these dozens of people I extend my thanks. I am sorry that I cannot list all of the contributors by name, I only hope that the results will be thanks enough in themselves. The principal thanks undoubtedly go to the fact that I was a policeman at the time I was asking the questions. At that time policemen continued to enjoy a status of trust, a trust sadly now rarely widespread. The Epping Forest District Museum, its past Assistant Curator Alisdair Wilson, and Curator Kate Carver and the embryo Metropolitan Police Museum Collection taught me a great deal about research and interpretation, skills which have stood me in good stead for many years afterwards. The Waltham Abbey Historical Society, and in particular Dr. Kenneth Bascombe, provided me with free access to documents and photographs which I suspect even they knew little about at the time. Each group has saved me many fruitless hours of travel in search of source material which I often failed to realise existed. Mention must also be made of the following individuals for their major contributions to text and potential sources: John Back, Bernard Brown, John Bunker, Robin Gillis, Robert Gould, John Hamer, Fred Hook, William Hooper, Robert Kent, Richard Sharp. Some did not live long enough to see the final result in print. Additional thanks are extended to my family who had to put up with over a decade of numerous absences from their company writing and researching on this and other projects. In particular my wife Linda should take credit for many hours transcribing my unintelligible scribbles into clear type until I was able to acquire a modern machine that could spell for me! There are sections of this book where I have expressed an opinion. I must point out that these are either my own personal assessments or those ascribed to other parties, and are not necessarily those in line with the policy of the Metropolitan Police Service. Since the main body of this book was completed in 1993 while I was still a serving police constable at Sun Street and running the finest police memorabilia collection [The Waltham Abbey Police Historical Collection] in East London, there have been changes. I retired from the station early in 1996 and the police artefacts were donated to the local museum service. In 1998 it was learned that the area was to be ceded by the Metropolitan Police to become a part of the Essex Police area from April 2000. This development effectively provided the storyline with a finite ending to 160 years of the Metropolitan Police in Waltham Abbey. Waltham Abbey October 2001 © Bryn Elliott 2 CHAPTER ONE EARLY DAYS The Metropolitan Police, the first such civil peace keeping force in the world, was formed in 1829. This small band of men was, however, confined to an area now considered to be Central London. Many outlying parishes, now within the Metropolitan Police District, continued with existing localised law enforcement arrangements. The Parish of Waltham Holy Cross, Essex, some 14 miles north of Charing Cross, and close to what still remained of Epping Forest, was one of those left out of the original formation of police. The presence of forest land had long ensured that the area suffered from the depredations of footpads and highwaymen. Like many areas of old Essex, it holds the dubious honour of having the infamous Richard 'Dick' Turpin as one of its 18th Century parishioners. In spite of this shady past, prior to 1840 the arrangements for law enforcement were not extensive. Three Parish Constables were employed locally to cover the Waltham Abbey area. All the names of these men are unknown, except for one, Anthony Childs. The adjoining village of Chingford, part of the early police area, employed one Joseph Jessop in the office of High Constable. Jessop, a Waltham Abbey based solicitor, comes to the fore in the early years of the police story. Below the Parish Constables the active law enforcement role was devolved upon a number of watchmen. Doubts were cast on the worth of these men. Some were employed because they were already dependent upon the receipt of financial support from local charities or the Church. The role of "The Watch" was mainly confined to a static presence in a number of wooden sentry boxes during the hours of darkness. It was not unknown for these posts to be overturned upon the dozing occupant by unruly elements. In addition to "The Watch”, a Horse Patrol was maintained on the main routes into London by a small force of ex-cavalrymen raised at Bow Street. The nearest posts for this Bow Street Mounted Patrol, nicknamed the "Robin Redbreasts" from their garb, lay at Enfield, Epping and Loughton. In 1837 the patrol formed the basis of Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch. The Bow Street Horse Patrol was inaugurated in 1805 to combat the many highway robberies taking place on the roads around London. Set up by Sir Richard Ford, Chief Magistrate of the Patrol Office in Bow Street, and Mr. Day the newly appointed Clerk to the Horse Patrol and later an inspector. From 1813 the Secretary of State took over the appointment of patrol constables from the Chief Magistrate. This patrol was not the first peacekeeping force formed in response to the attacks by highwaymen and footpads, but an earlier arrangement created by Sir John Fielding of Bow Street dating from 1763 was halted because of high costs. The Bow Street Horse patrol was reserved for married ex-cavalrymen aged between 30 and 65. Tasked with the patrol of main roads to London up to a distance of 20 miles from Charing Cross many of these areas, including Abridge, Epping and Romford, were to fall outside the Metropolitan Police District when the police forces were formed from 1840. The average daily distance covered by each of the patrols varied between 14 and 23 miles according to district. The duties performed by the 3 men were onerous. As in the case of the later police foot patrols, each working day was often of 12 hours duration and there were no regular days off duty. The Horse Patrol constables were each paid four shillings daily, they wore a uniform consisting of blue trousers with blue double-breasted greatcoat bearing yellow metal buttons over a scarlet waistcoat, wellington boots with steel spurs and tall black leather hat.

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