These letters were sent by police in Birmingham to the authorities in Newport. They detail the activities of a Chartist agitator called Waldo. In 1839 Birmingham was a centre for Chartist activity. In May the National Convention met in the town, and in July riots erupted in the Bull Ring. At the time Birmingham had no police force of its own, so officers had to be brought from London to keep order.
Catalogue reference: HO 65/10, ff. 23-4 (13, 14 and 19 November 1839)

By kind permission of the West Midlands Police Authority