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The mythical history of the ‘specials’: Sorting out the fact from the fiction

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References

  1. See, for example,The Metropolitan Special Constabulary: An Illustrated History From 1831 To Today, Publicity Branch, Metropolitan Police, 1981.

  2. This theory has most recently been re-stated in the Court of Appeal by Croom-Johnson L.J. inSheik v.Anderton (1989),The Times, 22nd March.

  3. R. Seth,The Specials: The Story of the Special Constabulary in England and Wales, Victor Gollancz, 1961, 38–41.

  4. Op. cit. at 38.

  5. Op. cit. at 41.

  6. The difficulties involved in tracing Seth's 1673 Act are compounded by the fact that he does not provide any citations or references for it.

  7. J.R. Kent,The Village Constable 1580–1642: A Social and Administrative Study, Clarendon Press, 1986, 65.

  8. The practice of remunerating special constables was approved in s.XXVI of 52 Geo. III c.17 in 1812, and s.3 of the Special Constables Act 1820, with the amount of the allowance being at the discretion of the justices, See alsoinfra p.191, and the provisions of the 1662 Theft and Rapine Act.

  9. L. Radzinowicz,A History of English Criminal Law and its Administration from 1750, Vol. II, Stevens and Sons Ltd, 1956, 202–25.

  10. T.A. Critchley,A History of Police in England and Wales 900–1966, Constable, 1967, 19, 60.

  11. H.B. Simpson, “The Office of Constable”, X/XLEnglish Historical Review (1895), 624–641.

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  12. R. Burn,The Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer, Stevens and Son, 1837.

  13. W. Blackstone,Commentaries on the Laws of England, Clarendon Press, 1773.

  14. Under the Statute of Winchester 1285, every sizeable town was to set up a night watch, and every man was to have in his house ‘Harness for to keep the Peace after the ancient Assise’ (13 Eliz. 1 c.6). Under 17 Ric. II c.8 (1393), and 13 Hen. IV c.7 (1411), theposse comitatus were a group of men who could be called out to assist the sheriff in times of emergency, whose origins derived from the obligation placed on the county under the above Acts.

  15. See K. J. Lindley, “Riot Prevention and Control in Early Stuart London”,Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (1983), 109–126, and M. Beloff,Public Order and Popular Disturbances 1660–1714, Oxford University Press, 1938, 132–153.

  16. See, for example, 13 & 14 Car. II c.3, entitled “An Act for ordering the Forces in the several Counties of this Kingdom”, which was concerned with extending the powers of Lords Lieutenant, and with the setting up of militias.

  17. 13 and 14 Car. II c.22.

  18. 12 & 13 Will. III c.6.

  19. See 18 Car. II c.3; 29 & 30 Car. II c.2; 1 James II c.14; 12 & 13 Will. 3 c.6; 6 Geo. II c.38; 17 Geo. II c.40.

  20. J.L. Kirby, “Border Service 1662–1757”, XLVIIITransactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (1949), 125–129.

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  21. E.P. Thompson, “The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century”, 50Past and Present (1971), 76–136.

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  22. R.B. Rose, “Eighteenth Century Price Riots and Public Policy in England”, 6International Review of Social History (1961), 277–292; R. Wells, “The Revolt of the south-west, 1800–1801: a study in English popular protest”, 6Social History (1977), 713–744.

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  23. Held at East Sussex Record Office LLD/7/E3. Also cited by Radzinowicz,supra n.11 at 215.

  24. The three statutes passed between 1812–1820 which detailed the use of special constables as supervisors for watch and wards were 52 Geo. III c.17, “An Act for more effectual Preservation of the Peace”, 58 Geo. III c.52 which continued the above until 1820, and 1 Geo. IV c.24, entitled as above.

  25. Radzinowicz,supra n.11 at 223.

  26. 1 Geo. IV c.37; “An Act to increase the Power of Magistrates in the Appointment of Special Constables”.

  27. 1 & 2 Will. IV c.41; “An Act for amending the Laws relative to the Appointment of Special Constables...”.

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Authors
  1. Clare Leon
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Additional information

Clare Leon is a Lecturer in the School of Law at Bristol Polytechnic. From 1985–1988 she was employed by Bath University to conduct research into the historical and contemporary deployment of special constables.

Thanks to John Styles at Bristol University for his guidance and suggestions on the historical material contained in this article, and to Leslie Moran at Liverpool Polytechnic for his critical comments.

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Leon, C. The mythical history of the ‘specials’: Sorting out the fact from the fiction. Liverpool Law Rev 11, 187–197 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01079404

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