Policing in Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse, 1835-1886

In the study of nineteenth-century policing and crime, south-west England has largely been neglected. This project seeks to redress the imbalance, and the police forces of the greater Plymouth area are a legitimate choice for a micro-study. This is because as they were patrolling in what was for much of the focus period, the fifth largest populated urban area in England, with density and overcrowding equal to London. The study shall focus on the urban police forces of the Plymouth Borough Police, Devonport Borough Police, Devon County Constabulary (H Div., Stonehouse) and the Metropolitan Police who were established in H M Dockyard Devonport in 1860. This project will create a historiography of each force, demonstrating the evolution of police work, and to put this micro-history within a national context. It assess the social condition and culture of the three towns, and exposes how various legislation and bylaws affected the operations and organisation of the police forces and their governing bodies. Whilst showing what actually constituted professionalisation and efficiency, and what were the parameters by which these aspects were judged, the thesis evaluates the influence of individual officers upon the evolution of their particular police force. The study also examines the Stonehouse police force, and gauges the performance of this branch of the Devonshire County Constabulary. It will also reveal what was life like for police officers in the district. Due to the presence of a naval dockyard, this study also requires an examination of the impact of the centralised Metropolitan Police being established in the dockyard in 1860. Finally what will be assessed is how the local community and local police interacted with the Metropolitan Police during enforcement of the Contagious Disease Acts from 1865 to 1883, and the consequences on the district upon the that legislation’s repeal and the introduction of the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act