Policing Public Transport: A Neglected History

PUNCH 1847 A DANGEROUS CHARACTER Policeman Sibthorpe. “Come, it’s High Time You Were taken to the House; You’ve Done Quite Mischief Enough”   For many years PUNCH was a popular and successful magazine, famous for the quality of its content and the ingenuity of its artwork.  Its influence extended far beyond its circulation and many people were surprised when it closed in 1992.  An attempt a few years later to revive the title failed.  PUNCH was a satirical magazine. It regularly lampooned the ‘railway mania’ of the mid nineteenth century.  It also used satire as a vector of comment on politicians and society figures.  There were many references to the railway throughout the magazine’s run and I will make other references to railway police related cartoons in future blogs. The above cartoon shows an early locomotive with a face, hands and feet being ‘arrested’ by Policeman Sibthorpe, who is dressed in early (railway?) police uniform with a top hat and holdin...

                                      Pc 181 James (Jim) Hughes LMS Police Euston                                                 (Picture:  John Bull Magazine) For much of its published life John Bull magazine was a pretty unpleasant publication.   It was a sort of Daily Mail on steroids.   A nationalistic and populist publication it had, after a re-launch, calmed down by the late 1940s.   The edition for the week ending 18 th December 1948 has recently been acquired by the British Transport Police History Group (BTPHG) after being identified as being of interest by the indefatigable Steve Beamon.   This edition contains an article entitled ‘POLICEMAN ON THE PLATFORM’ and is ba...

  Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway:  Policeman's Report 7th May 1984:  BTPHG Collection The BTPHG has recently acquired, thanks to the ever watchful Steve Beamon, a single page document dated 7 th May 1842. It is a 180 years old this week.   It is a police report sheet from the Glasgow,Paisley and Greenock Railway.   The instructions on the sheet remind officers that they “are forbidden to cross the lines themselves, or allow others to do so, in front of an approaching Engine; or to stand within three feet of the Rails”.   They were also required to patrol the track looking for faults and obstructions. Two policeman have signed the sheet, covering the east and west directions.   A third signature appears at the bottom of the page. The GPandGR was short lived.   It opened in 1841 and by the end of the decade it had merged into the Caledonian Railway.   This document comes from the early days of the railway and this is evidenced by th...