Map 2: Sir Charles Shaw and WC: retained stations (light blue) one added (blue) 1839-42.
Poor housing districts in red.
The additional stations of the W.C added from 1842.
Overlay on the Slater's 1845 map
Poor housing districts in red.
The additional stations of the W.C added from 1842.
Overlay on the Slater's 1845 map
Sir Charles Shaw 1839 -1842
Brigadier-General Sir Charles Shaw, aged 44 years, was a highly experienced army officer with extensive service overseas with the British Auxiliary Legion took over control of the Manchester Police Force subject to the provisions of the 1839 Act of Parliament [2nd, 3rd Vict c.89]. [1]
Shaw’s review of the police estate at first glance saw a significant reduction in the police estate. He closed almost immediately four police stations along with the Boroughreeve office:
He retained just seven of the other buildings including Allum Street Ancoats and those inherited from Chorlton on Medlock and Hulme townships including Moss Lane, Hulme mentioned for the first time. When mapped out (Map 2) a clearer tactical plan emerges. The stations can be grouped as below into three main crime areas: West Deansgate, Angel Meadow with Ancoats, Southern Manchester including Little Ireland and north Hulme.
West Deansgate
Old Town Hall Police Office and lock-up King Street.
Ridgefield Station House, off John Dalton Street
Angel Meadow with Ancoats
Oldham Road Police Station with lock-up, New Cross District.
Kirby Street Police Station and lock-up, Ancoats District.
Allum Street, Lock-up Ancoats.
Southern Manchester including Little Ireland and north Hulme
Chorlton Town Hall, Cavendish Street, Chorlton on Medlock Township.
Great Jackson Street, Park Place, Hulme Township.
Moss Lane Station House, Hulme.
His decision to close the Boroughreeve office in the Town Hall can be seen as a removal of the old Watch and Ward system and the lingering authority of the Police Commissioners, with whom the new Council were in fierce dispute. The now redundant WC record in their minutes simply the following, ‘unsuitable for his purpose and the lease[s] to be let go’, whilst the General Council’s minute states, ‘more convenient places will be selected so soon as he can obtain them’.[2]
On his limited budget of £16,505 Sir Charles spends only £583 (3.5 per cent) on the rent of lock-ups. He did however increase the police establishment from the WC force to 383 comprising 366 constables and sergeants with 15 senior ranks and one treasurer and one administrative post. He was also presented on the 6 January 1840 with a hefty bill for
£1,803. 6s. 0d. for the valuation of the police clothing by the new Borough Treasurer.[3]
Another significant expense was his own salary of £700 p.a. However, this may be explained by his high military rank. By contrast in 1840 a constable was on a weekly wage of 17 shillings, or around £40 p.a. The WC paid for their first Head Constable £400 p.a. in 1839 and on their return to power in 1842 increased this to £450. He was by contrast an untitled Captain.[4]
Overall, Sir Charles Shaw's review revealed a deliberate policy to increase the operational efficiency of the force. He simplified the estate by closing dilapidated stations and removing their high running costs, with a view to renting more suitable ones. Finally, he appointed more officers to patrol the beats. Once more this reinforced the Victorian police force's primary operational resource - the beat constable.
Sir Charles Shaw served for three years as Police Commissioner during some of the most unsettled years in Manchester’s industrial history with the Anti Corn Law and Plug Plot riots. During this time he records a significant arrest rate up to a peak in 1842 of 13,801 persons. On the 1st October 1842 after the Charter of Incorporation was finally resolved the Council's Watch Committee resumed control of the police under the command of Chief Constable Captain Edward Willis.
Watch Committee
The returning WC took stock of their estate and as can be seen from Map 2 began to fill in the operational holes by establishing stations nearer to West Deansgate and Angel Meadow. They did this by recommissioning Knott Mill and Swan Street police stations. Land was acquired at the back of the London Road railway station on Fairfield Street upon which to build a large police station with parade ground and billets. Moss Lane Station House was considered superfluous due to the return of Deansgate PS and the proximity of Great Jackson Street PS so it was vacated from 1843.
Stations acquired from 1842:
Accepting that the role of the foot officer was to enforce the law, frequently by arrest, often for offences not condoned by local inhabitants - the constable's ability to successfully escort, force or even drag a prisoner to the safety of a station cell was paramount to the objectives of the force. The tactical placement of police stations was essential to this goal.[5]
[1] R. H. Vetch, ‘Shaw, Sir Charles (1795–1871)’, Rev. James Falkner, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, Online edition, Jan 2011 www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25245, 24 Feb 2013.
[2] WCM 6 Jan 1840, and FGPM 9 October 1839.
[3] Sir Charles Shaw, ‘Returns relating to the establishment of a Police Force in Manchester 1840’, Greater Manchester Police Museum and Archive/Law Section/Incorporation Reports.
[4] WCM 25 Mar 1839 & 27 Sept 1842.
[5] R. D. Storch, 'The Plague of Blue Locusts: Police Reform and Popular Resistance in Northern England, 1840-57', International Review of Social History, 20 (1975) pp.61-90.
Shaw’s review of the police estate at first glance saw a significant reduction in the police estate. He closed almost immediately four police stations along with the Boroughreeve office:
- Knott Mill Lock-up.
- Swan Street Lock-up.
- London Road Lock-up.
- Hanover Street Lock-up.
- Boroughreeve Constable’s office in the Town Hall, King Street.
He retained just seven of the other buildings including Allum Street Ancoats and those inherited from Chorlton on Medlock and Hulme townships including Moss Lane, Hulme mentioned for the first time. When mapped out (Map 2) a clearer tactical plan emerges. The stations can be grouped as below into three main crime areas: West Deansgate, Angel Meadow with Ancoats, Southern Manchester including Little Ireland and north Hulme.
West Deansgate
Old Town Hall Police Office and lock-up King Street.
Ridgefield Station House, off John Dalton Street
Angel Meadow with Ancoats
Oldham Road Police Station with lock-up, New Cross District.
Kirby Street Police Station and lock-up, Ancoats District.
Allum Street, Lock-up Ancoats.
Southern Manchester including Little Ireland and north Hulme
Chorlton Town Hall, Cavendish Street, Chorlton on Medlock Township.
Great Jackson Street, Park Place, Hulme Township.
Moss Lane Station House, Hulme.
His decision to close the Boroughreeve office in the Town Hall can be seen as a removal of the old Watch and Ward system and the lingering authority of the Police Commissioners, with whom the new Council were in fierce dispute. The now redundant WC record in their minutes simply the following, ‘unsuitable for his purpose and the lease[s] to be let go’, whilst the General Council’s minute states, ‘more convenient places will be selected so soon as he can obtain them’.[2]
On his limited budget of £16,505 Sir Charles spends only £583 (3.5 per cent) on the rent of lock-ups. He did however increase the police establishment from the WC force to 383 comprising 366 constables and sergeants with 15 senior ranks and one treasurer and one administrative post. He was also presented on the 6 January 1840 with a hefty bill for
£1,803. 6s. 0d. for the valuation of the police clothing by the new Borough Treasurer.[3]
Another significant expense was his own salary of £700 p.a. However, this may be explained by his high military rank. By contrast in 1840 a constable was on a weekly wage of 17 shillings, or around £40 p.a. The WC paid for their first Head Constable £400 p.a. in 1839 and on their return to power in 1842 increased this to £450. He was by contrast an untitled Captain.[4]
Overall, Sir Charles Shaw's review revealed a deliberate policy to increase the operational efficiency of the force. He simplified the estate by closing dilapidated stations and removing their high running costs, with a view to renting more suitable ones. Finally, he appointed more officers to patrol the beats. Once more this reinforced the Victorian police force's primary operational resource - the beat constable.
Sir Charles Shaw served for three years as Police Commissioner during some of the most unsettled years in Manchester’s industrial history with the Anti Corn Law and Plug Plot riots. During this time he records a significant arrest rate up to a peak in 1842 of 13,801 persons. On the 1st October 1842 after the Charter of Incorporation was finally resolved the Council's Watch Committee resumed control of the police under the command of Chief Constable Captain Edward Willis.
Watch Committee
The returning WC took stock of their estate and as can be seen from Map 2 began to fill in the operational holes by establishing stations nearer to West Deansgate and Angel Meadow. They did this by recommissioning Knott Mill and Swan Street police stations. Land was acquired at the back of the London Road railway station on Fairfield Street upon which to build a large police station with parade ground and billets. Moss Lane Station House was considered superfluous due to the return of Deansgate PS and the proximity of Great Jackson Street PS so it was vacated from 1843.
Stations acquired from 1842:
- Deansgate Lock-up, Knott Mill.
- Swan Street Lock-up, Cheetham.
- Fairfield Road Police Station, Ardwick.
Accepting that the role of the foot officer was to enforce the law, frequently by arrest, often for offences not condoned by local inhabitants - the constable's ability to successfully escort, force or even drag a prisoner to the safety of a station cell was paramount to the objectives of the force. The tactical placement of police stations was essential to this goal.[5]
[1] R. H. Vetch, ‘Shaw, Sir Charles (1795–1871)’, Rev. James Falkner, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, Online edition, Jan 2011 www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25245, 24 Feb 2013.
[2] WCM 6 Jan 1840, and FGPM 9 October 1839.
[3] Sir Charles Shaw, ‘Returns relating to the establishment of a Police Force in Manchester 1840’, Greater Manchester Police Museum and Archive/Law Section/Incorporation Reports.
[4] WCM 25 Mar 1839 & 27 Sept 1842.
[5] R. D. Storch, 'The Plague of Blue Locusts: Police Reform and Popular Resistance in Northern England, 1840-57', International Review of Social History, 20 (1975) pp.61-90.
