From the Lord of the Manor’s duty to maintain law and order to modern day policewomen, the role of policing in Richmond has had many changes over the centuries
From early Mediaeval times, the Lord of the Manor was responsible through his Court Leet (a jurisdictional area) for the maintenance of law and order. Centuries later, as parish vestries were established, this duty passed on to them.
Each parish had its own constable who was an unpaid official. Not surprisingly, not many citizens volunteered for this post, not only because of the law enforcement, but also a wide range of duties such as inspecting alehouses, suppressing gaming houses, apprenticing poor children and removing vagrants from the parish.
The constable was also responsible for the upkeep of the ducking stool and the stocks, used as punishment. In Richmond, the ducking stool, stocks and the town pond were situated where George Street now meets Sheen Road. The ducking stool was still in use in the 17th century and the stocks were even being used in Richmond as late as the 18th century. Although not many volunteered for the position of constable, any citizen who refused to take up the post could be fined.
Under a private Act of Parliament of 1766, the Vestry in Richmond was given more specific powers, including the right to set up a regular watch of six men. Yet the lack of a professional police force meant an ever-growing menace from footpads (foot thieves) and highway men, so many travellers went about armed.
To meet the rise in crime, particularly in London, Sir Robert Peel created a paid professional police force – the Metropolitan police – in 1829. Initially, Richmond was outside the Metropolitan police area, but from 1840 Richmond and several other areas in the Home Counties were brought within it.
A Richmond police constable could expect to receive only one guinea per week (£1.05p) and had to work a 12-hour day, six days a week and, until 1897, he even had to pay for his own boots. The force was all-male until 1919, when women were allowed to join.
In 1989 the Richmond and Twickenham police divisions amalgamated. The first police station was in Princes Street, where the watchmen used to sit in in the late 18th and early 19th century, but the station soon moved to George Street and then, in 1912 to Paradise Road, where it remained for over 100 years. It then moved briefly to the grounds of St. Johns Church, but it closed after only a few years and today, sadly, Richmond has no police station of its own.
© John Moses
Find more history articles here.