Top hats, tails and Victorian mean streets... A 19th century policeman’s lot was a dangerous one – as the memoirs of a former Midland ‘Peeler’ reveal
THOSE who believe the streets were safer in Victorian times may have their perception shattered by the published memoirs of a ‘Peeler’.
Inspector Woollaston’s Nose For Iniquity is one officer’s diary of the crimes he faced on a daily basis in the Black Country during the mid to late 1800s.
And it reveals how the thin blue line encountered violence and even rioting on a scale that would shock many today.
But there were no riot shields and helmets for Victorian bobbies.
They often went into battle wearing swallowtail tunics and top hats.
Thomas Woollaston, one of Staffordshire’s first policemen, joined the fledgling force on Christmas Day, 1840, and bowed out shortly after being injured in a West Bromwich street battle.
Paid 14 shillings (70p) for a nine-hour day, seven-days-a-week job, Woollaston soon rose to the rank of sergeant. He was, without doubt, a hard, fearless individual – and he had to be.
Once retired, Woollaston used his meticulous notes and court reports to pen a book, Police Experiences And Reminiscences Of Official Life In The County Of Stafford, that was first pub- lished in 1884. A surviving copy was found by his great great nephew, Martin Woollaston, from Berkswich, Staffordshire, who had a long career in the police force before becoming a coroner’s officer.
He approached Berkswich History Society – a group he belongs to – about publishing the work and it first hit the shelves in 2007, entitled Police Experiences.
The book did not do as well as expected because of the inscrutable title, society chairman Beryl Holt said.
So now the book has been renamed Inspector Woollaston’s Nose For Iniquity and has just been republished.
Ms Holt said: “It is an absolutely fascinating book and would make a great film.”
The excerpt below, entitled “Attack On Police By Roughs”, reveals the violence and civil unrest officers faced doing their duty for Queen and country.
The book, priced £5 plus £2.80 postage and packing, is available from Beryl at 53, Old Croft Road, Walton on the Hill, ST17 0NL. Please make cheques payable to Berkswich History Society. It is also available at Penkridge Hardware Shop, Penkridge.