Before the Bobbies. The Night Watch and Police Reform in Metropolitan London, 1720-1830

(^118) Before the Bobbies
of St Luke were aware of Islington's reforms. But a suggestion from the
police magistrates at the Worship Street Office that they establish an evening
patrol-rf.rompted St Luke's trustees to examine their watch in the first
place. These examples illustrate the intensity of exchange between parishes
and between local and central authorities that was going on in London over
the 1820s. Not all parishes adopted shifts nor were they always used year
round. Because double shifts were expensive, some parishes, such as Hack-
ney, employed two sets of watchmen for the winter but only one in sum-
mer.78 With around-the-clock protection in some parishes and an early
evening watch in many, the term 'night watch' no longer accurately described
many parochial forces.
Parishes also continued trying to improve the quality of their personnel,
including physical qualifications. Home Secretary Richard Ryder, in the 1812
debate about the nightly watch, had commented that he 'had been credibly
informed that there were many instances in which those who were too old to
earn their bread, were appointed to the situations of watchmen, in order to
prevent their becoming a burden to the parish'.^79 Like sleeping watchmen,
old watchmen were also a stereotype. In a satirical pamphlet, John Pearson
taunted: 'None need apply for [the night watch] ... that have not attained the
age of 60, 70, 80, or 90 years.'^80 However, following 1812 many parishes
enforced stricter hiring standards with regard to age, ability, and education.
It was not easy to find fit and active men for the watch who would work for
12 or 14 shillings a week, especially during the war. When Peel's first Police
Committee collected information about the night watch qualifications in
1822, St John, Wapping required: ~ble-bodied men, under 40, except in
war-time when men are scarce.'^81 After 1815, with thousands of ex-soldiers
and sailors looking for work, the pool of available, qualified men increased.
Many parishes preferred to hire veterans, men used to the discipline of
keeping guard or standing watches. If they also had a military pension,
they would not need a day job. After 1821, the economy improved and
parishes collected greater percentages of their rates. Parishes found that
they could pay wages that attracted more reliable men.^82
It was often the custom and sometimes a legal requirement for the watch
committee or vestry to inspect the watch every year, often a mere formality.
After 1815, many watch authorities used these annual inspections to scrutin-
ize their watch employees and remove the unfit. Better records began to be
kept of the age, height, length of employment, and other information about
each watchmen or patrol. The St James, Piccadilly, watch committee
recorded when a man was appointed, what his former or current trade
was, and who recommended him. Almost all the men hired in Piccadilly
after 1815 were former military or naval men who had been recommended
by their officers. The great majority of men in Clerkenwell, Piccadilly, and
Southwark were in their thirties or forties. A few were in their twenties or