Having met with some success indexing the
records of the Reading Borough Police 1865-1900,
as described in the March 2002 edition of the
Berkshire Family Historian, I set out to
investigate the early days of the Watch Keeping
system in the town described in the minutes of
the Watch Committee between the years 1828 and
1831, and Police attendance records for 1836,
again kept at the Police Training College at
Sulhamstead.
In 1828 the Watch Committee consisted of 12
good men and true who met at the Upper Ship Inn
and later in 1831 at the George Inn. They
initially met frequently, sometimes twice a week,
to set up a system of Watchmen (which probably
commenced in 1826) to maintain law and order in
what was at times an unruly town. The Watchmen
were initially paid nine shillings a week in the
summer and 11 shillings in the winter, but when
the committee attempted to save money by laying
off Watchmen during the summer months, several
men resigned and the committee was forced to
increase pay to 14 shillings in the winter and to
give the men year round employment.
There were two grades of Watchmen —
supernumerary and regular — with promotion
from one to the other. In 1829 there were 12
regular and 19 supernumeraries. They were
employed to patrol 12 beats around the town with
a shift system of an early watch from 8pm to 1am
and a late watch.
They were given a uniform consisting of a
greatcoat and ruffle —the coat had the
letters RW (possibly meaning Reading Watch)
painted on it together with a number to identify
each man. A list of tailors in the town who were
authorised to supply the coats is included in the
minutes, and there is some discussion as to the
quality of the garments that they provided. The
Watchmen were also equipped with a lantern and
staff and the Superintendent was required to
provide himself with two pairs of handcuffs and a
rattle strap. The Watchmen were also instructed
to call the hour and the state of the weather
every ten paces whilst patrolling their beat.
It was a requirement for employment that each
man could identify Reading as his place of
settlement. For the month of November 1829 there
is a complete listing of all the men employed,
identified by first name, surname and parish of
settlement (St Mary, St Giles or St Lawrence).
The Watch Committee also dealt with any
disciplinary matters that were required and
interestingly enough they were also instrumental
in pressing for improvements to the street
lighting system — this was, of course, gas
lighting. As today there never seemed to be
enough money available to make improvements.
Moving on to the Watch Committee record for 1836/7,
this consists of a one-year record (May 1836 to
April 1837) of the daily attendance of policemen
(this term is used specifically), their
identification number (up to 22), the beat they
were assigned to and any remarks. The records,
therefore, identify the transition from a system
of Watchmen to one based on a proper system of
policing. Thirty-one regular policemen were
employed and once again they were backed up by a
system of supernumeraries. The men employed are
identified by first name and surname; they were
supervised by an Inspector and a Sergeant. A list
of men who were discharged or who resigned is
also included.
Putting these two records together we can
identify at least 70 men who served in the
Reading Watch System and Police at a time when
the service was in its infancy. The names of the
Watch Committee are also listed. This makes the
records of interest to family historians.
All the information gathered will be added to
the Berkshire Name Index held at Yeomanry House
for the benefit of members. Members interested in
the early records of the Berkshire Police Force (as
opposed to the Reading Borough Police) may like
to know that they can be found in the Berkshire
Record Office; they commence in 1856 and were
indexed by Margaret Foreman in 1997.
with any queries
