Crime and Punishment: Robert Peel

• Tasks
• Background
• Teachers' notes
• External links
• Connection to Curriculum:

In 1822, Sir Robert Peel was appointed Home Secretary. He would become closely associated with penal reform in Britain. He is remembered especially for the formation of the Metropolitan London Police Force in 1829. Police constables were called ‘bobbies’ or ‘peelers’ in reference to Peel. Before Peel’s reforms, public order in London was a serious concern, with crime rates rising as the population of the city grew. London had previously been policed by an old system of 4,500 night-watchmen, the Hue and Cry, the Bow Street Runners, and 450 constables, who were generally seen as corrupt, inefficient, and jealous of one another’s powers. Peel was convinced that the establishment of a state-funded, professional, and unified police force was the solution.  

The Act for Improving the Police in and near the Metropolis in 1829 saw the establishment of the Metropolitan Police Force in central London, including eight superintendents, 20 inspectors, 88 sergeants and 895 constables.  

Use this lesson with original documents, to explore the foundation of the Metropolitan Police Force, the nature of the new police force, and contemporary attitudes to this new system of law and order in London.  

---

Tasks

---

Background

Gary Mason’s ‘The Official History of the Metropolitan Police’ (2004) gives details of the recruitment criteria for the new police force in 1829: male, under the age of 35, fit and healthy, and at least 5ft7in tall. Once in the force, the constables were paid 21/- (£1.05) a week. This amount was more than a labourer earned, but less than a skilled worker, and they also had to pay for their own blue uniforms. As Dr Claire Kennan has shown, the recruits were subject to strict prohibitions on their behaviour; they could not talk to sex workers, associate with known criminals, or visit public houses (pubs). They also worked a gruelling seven-day week, which was physically demanding. The main method of policing was patrolling their areas on foot, walking up to 10 miles a day across their ‘beat’, and reporting to their superior sergeants.  

Recorded crime in London fell significantly after Peel’s reforms, despite continuous population growth in the city. However, Peel’s Metropolitan Police were not celebrated unanimously. Some parishes in London objected to the loss of jurisdiction over the way in which they were policed, particularly in wealthier parishes such as Marylebone. There was also real concern that the state-organised police were in fact a peacetime army, a military force that could be an instrument of political oppression. They were often the subject of derision and hostility in newspapers and other publications. Often, the constables were heckled, spat at, and subject to violence while on duty.  

Feelings of resentment and anger towards the police was fuelled, in the early years of the force, by the low quality of those who entered the police force. A stricter position on officers’ behaviour was enforced within two years of the Metropolitan Police’s establishment, which led to a high turnover of recruits, with many officers being dismissed for drunkenness.  

Despite some initial challenges, Peel’s police force was a profound success, as crime rates fell continuously over the next century. Another indicator of its success was the 1835 Municipal Corporation Act and the 1839 Rural Constabulary Act which allowed counties to set up their own police forces, and Wiltshire was the first county to do this. Just as in London, there was initial opposition for the establishment of such rural police forces, including fears about the encroachment of a military force in towns and counties, and in the 1850s only 36 out of the 54 counties had created their own police force. With the County Borough Police Act of 1856, it became compulsory for all counties and boroughs to have a police force. 

At The National Archives, the Records of the Metropolitan Police Office (MEPO) holds records concerning all aspects of the policing of the metropolis of London.

---

Teachers' notes

This lesson uses sources from The National Archives to explore how law enforcement was changed by Sir Robert Peel’s new Metropolitan Police Force. Before starting, it would be helpful to ensure that students are familiar with these key terms and ideas: penal reform, Home Office.

For the first task, students look at the instructions on the powers of a police constable, and definition of his duties. Students can consider the large amount of power given to constables in the 1830s and anticipate any potential pitfalls to these definitions of police power. It also provides students with clues as to common crimes in the period, and the social conditions in which people lived and suffered at the time.

The second source that students examine is an advertisement for The Police Gazette dating from 1839, which allows students to consider how information regarding criminals and felonies was circulated amongst the police, also providing students with insights into common criminal activities in the period which the police were keen to prohibit.

The third source is a handbill dating from 1830 and allows students to explore the complex reactions of the British people to the establishment of the police. This handbill refers to the Metropolitan Police as “Peel’s Police”, showing how the force was synonymous with the Home Office and the Home secretary. The reference to the police as blue raw lobsters, which turn red when boiled, suggests that it would take only a heated or volatile situation to reveal the police as an army in red uniform, a form of peacetime army. This source provides the opportunity for students to consider anti-police sentiment in the period, and the grounds upon which they opposed the establishment of this new government force. The later cartoon source 4b source also examines hostility to the new police force and students can compare it for similarities and differences.

The fourth task comprises of two letters and a cartoon. The letters were written by members of the public expressing their concern or approbation of police conduct in the 1830s and 1840s. This task helps students to think about the nature of letters as a historical source. It also provides opportunities to consider the accusations levelled against new police recruits in the 1830s, which included reports of drunkenness and disorder. The two letters together can also be used to think about how public attitudes to the police changed as time went on. It may be useful to compare these sources to the to the handbill source 3 and cartoon source 4b looking for similarities and differences between the documents.

The fifth and final source is a newspaper extract concerning the establishment of a Rural County police force in Shropshire. Students can consider the growth of reformed policing across the county and the challenges and concerns raised by county officials regarding such reforms.

You may want to split the lesson for students working individually or use the sources in paired/ group work. Students should be encouraged to think about the limitations of looking at different kinds of evidence to evaluate their understanding of Robert Peel and the creation of the Metropolitan Police force, and the reaction of the English population to such reforms.

All sources are transcribed, and difficult language is explained in the glossary or square brackets. To retain the spirit of the language we have not further simplified the transcripts.

Finally, although this lesson is aimed at Key stage 4, teachers could use these documents and provide their own questions and/or create simplified transcripts to use with younger students for the National Curriculum focus on ‘Significant Individuals’ and their achievements.

Sources:

Illustration image: Sir Robert Peel blue plaque erected in 1988 by English Heritage at 16 Upper Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, London, W1K 7EH, City of Westminster, Wikimedia Commons 

Source 1: ‘Instructions respecting the Duties and Powers of Constables’. 1839. Catalogue Ref. HO 45/6647. 

Source 2: ‘The Metropolitan Police Gazette and Criminal Recorder’. 1829. Catalogue Ref: HO 61/9 

Source 3: ‘Anti-police handbill’. 1830. Catalogue Ref: HO 44/21, f.326.  

Source 4a: ‘A letter regarding the Metropolitan Police Force’. 1830. Catalogue Ref. MEPO 2/9653. 

Source 4b A satirical cartoon from The Political Drama, No.11. c.1834-5. Catalogue Ref. HO 61/9.   

Source 4c: ‘A letter regarding the Metropolitan Police Force’. 1848. Catalogue Ref. MEPO 2/67. 

Source 5: ‘Newspaper extract regarding the establishment of a county rural police force in Shropshire’. c.1835-9. Catalogue Ref. HO 73/3.  

---

External links

The National Archives Education Curriculum topic: ‘Crime and Punishment’. 

The National Archives research exchange blog: ‘Peel’s Police: Raw Lobsters and Blue Devils!’, by Dr Claire Kennan, 2019. 

Sir Robert Peel’s 9 Policing Principles, Law Enforcement Action Partners.  

Before the Bobbies: The Night Watch and Police Reform in Metropolitan London, 1730-1830, by Elaine Reynolds, 1998.  

Connection to Curriculum:

These documents can be used to support any of the exam board specifications covering crime and punishment in Britain.

Key stage 4

Edexcel History GCSE: Crime and Punishment in Britain, c1000-present.  

OCR History GCSE: History B (Schools History Project) Crime and Punishment. c1250-present. 

Key stage 5

AQA GCE History: Government and a changing society, 1812–1832. 

OCR GCE History: British Government in the Age of Revolution 1783–1832: Robert Peel at  the Home Office. 

Back to top