Cambridgeshire

Police

History

Notes

Policing Bassingbourn 1830s to 1851

| Introduction | Lighting and Watching Act Force | Parish Constables | A Royston Policeman | After 1851 | Lighting and Watching Act 1833 |

Introduction

This article describes policing in the Cambridgeshire village of Bassingbourn from the 1830s until the formation of the new Cambridgeshire Constabulary in 1851. This is a work in progress which raises a number of questions and it is hoped that over time more information may come to light.

Bassingbourn is a rural parish on the Cambridgeshire border, just North of Royston, alongside the Roman Ermine Street (later known as the Old North Road), connecting London and York. Close by, to the South of the village, is an ancient track, the Icknield Way running from East to West, connecting Norfolk and Wiltshire. The population in 1841 was 1583 and in 1851 had risen to 1919. Agriculture was the main activity in the Parish.

Lighting and Watching Act Force

In the 1840s local people would have been concerned about crime. Sheep stealing was a relatively common occurrence. In 1847 newspaper advertisements announced the intention to extend the Royston and Hitchen and Eastern Counties Railways which would have involved an influx of navvies into the parish (Stamford Mercury, 12 November 1847 p2 and Bedfordshire Times and Independent, 20 November 1847). Adding to this, there were a number of arson attacks on stacks and farm buildings in 1848 and 1849. It comes as no surprise to find the local press reporting:

"The watching part of the Lighting and Watching Act has been put into operation in the parish, in consequence of the frequent occurrence of incendiary fires, as no one felt safe in their beds — to such a pitch had incendiarism arrived - and four night constables and one day constable are now appointed for the parish." (Cambridge Independent Press, 29 December 1849 p3)

Almost immediately some local householders complained about the additional cost to ratepayers. Some refused to pay the rate and commenced litigation. (Cambridge Chronicle, 30 November 1850 p2)

Parish Constables

For many years the Bassingbourn Vestry nominated two householders (occasionally one or three) to serve as Parish Constables for the year ahead. The names appear annually in the Vestry Minute Book (Cambs Archives KP11/8/1/) which amazingly started in 1675. In the early 19th Century it appeared the norm was for individuals to serve as Constables for between four and eight years. No records have survived for Constables' disbursements or other parish accounts, so it is difficult to judge the basis on which they served in post for longer than the usual one year. Those serving between 1816 and 1837 were:

1816-1822 Christopher Fickess
1816-17 and 1823-1829 John Pearman (or Peariman)
1818-1823 Tempest Sell
1824-1828 Samuel Frigg
1829-1837 James Wedd
1829-1837 Richard Fickess

A Royston Policeman

Other professional policing had been available in Bassingbourn since the 1830s. In 1839 Archer Robinson (50) was tried and aquitted at the Cambridgeshire Summer Assizes for sheep stealing at Bassingbourn. Robinson was arrested by Thomas Hodge. It is not clear whether Hodge was a Bassingbourn Parish Constable at that point - the surviving Vestry minute book (Cambs Archives KP11/8/1/) listed nominated Constables up to 1837. In one press report Hodge was described as a "Royston Policeman".(Cambridge Independent Press, 27 July 1839 p3). Royston is now in Hertfordshire, but until the 1890s part of Royston was in Cambridgeshire, and so it is not clear how a "Royston policeman" would have been defined.

In Bassingbourn in July 1840 three men, Thomas Daniels (19), John Fisher (17) and Thomas Smith (39), tried unsuccessfully to pass off counterfeit sixpences, cast in Britannia metal, to a shopkeeper and publican. Richard Fickess, the shopkeeper, and co-incidentally a Parish Constable, called on Thomas Hodge, "policeman", to make arrests. At the Assizes, the three coiners were imprisoned for a year. (Cambridge Independent Press, 11 July 1840 p4). Richard Fickess served as a Parish Constable from 1829 to at least 1840 and was therefore very experienced, but nevertheless he handed this case over to Thomas Hodge, suggesting that Thomas was his senior.

A case reported later in 1840 sheds more light on how the Parish of Bassingbourn employed a professional police officer as well as a couple of (presumably) unpaid Parish Constables. Thomas Hodge was on duty at the 1840 Bassingbourn Statute Fair, making sure all the stalls and public houses had closed at the correct time, when he was accosted and assaulted by three young men, one of whom kicked the officer in the temple. Later Hodge recovered and arrested two of his assailants, Zachariah Griffin and Richard Racher, who both received three months imprisonment with hard labour. Two different reports of the court case described Thomas Hodge as "one of the Royston Police" and "Constable of Bassingbourn and also one of the police established by the Royston Association for the protection of persons and property" and that he had held this post for two years.

The 1841 Census provides further information. This records Thomas Hodge b.1808 Barnet, Herts, occupation: police officer, living in the High Street Bassingbourn, with his wife Mary and four children, aged 4 to 12. The places of birth of the children suggest that the family moved from Hertfordshire to Cambridgeshire some time in or before 1835.

In January 1846 Hodge, described as "police constable of Bassingbourn", arrested three local men for attempted highway robbery. Amos Noble, John Saddler, and Robert Rosindale were committed to the next Assize at Cambridge (Hertford Mercury and Reformer, 24 January 1846 p2)

In July 1848 at the Summer Assizes, Thomas Hodge, "Policeman", was the arresting officer in a pick-pocketing case in Bassingbourn. The alleged thief, Edwin Butterfield, and his friend William Sell, appeared at court for assaulting the officer to enable Butterfield to escape from custody (Cambridge Independent Press, 15 July 1848 p2 and Cambridge General Advertiser, 3 January 1849 p2). Butterfield was sentenced to 12 months with hard labour (Cambridge Chronicle 28 Oct 1848 p4)

At least eleven serious arson attacks took place in the parish during 1848 and 1849, destroying buildings, stacks, crops and livestock. (Bury and Norwich Post, 16 May 1849 p3; Daily News (London), 16 August 1849; Cambridge Chronicle, 3 November 1849 p2; Cambridge Independent Press, 29 December 1849 p3). Then Thomas Hodge, described as "Constable of Bassingbourn" made an arrest and James Smith, 21, labourer, was charged with a starting a fire on 7th August, destroying property of Samuel Blott. Smith had been seen in the vicinity of the fire when it started and later, in a pub, made some incriminating drunken comments about fires and farmers deserving the consequences. On this thin evidence, Smith was convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment (Cambridge Independent Press, 23 March 1850 p3).

But the fires did not stop. Hodge, the policeman of Bassingbourn, and Stamford, one of the night watchmen employed by the Bassingbourn Vestry, were patrolling the outskirts of the village when they spotted a small fire in a stack. They captured two local youths, Alexander Rowling and David Howes, leaving the scene. The press report of the incident mentioned that the parishioners had found it necessary to appoint several night watchmen to assist Hodge, who they described as "an active and intelligent officer of long standing in the place", (Cambridge Independent Press, 28 December 1850 p2 and Cambridge Chronicle, 29 March 1851 p7 and Bury and Norwich Post, 26 March 1851 p3.) Rowling and Howes were both sentenced to 15 years transportation.

After 1851 and the formation of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary

The 1851 Census shows Thomas, his wife and six children resident at Bassingbourn. Later that year the Cambridgeshire Constabulary was established by Magistrates, under the permissive Rural Policing Act of 1839, negating the watching powers of local Lighting and Watching Act forces. A recruiting advert for Cambridgeshire Constables appeared in the Cambridge Independent Press, 29 November 1851 p2. Candidates had to apply quickly in writing and would be interviewed by the Chief Constable on 3rd December. Suitable candidates would be appointed on a first come, first served, basis until all vacancies had been filled. Past or present members of other police bodies were required to apply through the head of their force. The process suggests that the Chief Constable, Captain George Davies RN, valued men who were unconnected with the local community above those with local knowledge, ties and connections. We do not know whether Thomas applied to join the new Cambridgeshire force, but if he did, his application was unsuccessful. His police career did however continue. He applied to the Hertfordshire Constabulary, which had been established in 1841, was accepted and joined the Force on 9th December 1851, warrant number: 64. He is mentioned in the local press as a Constable at Hoddesden where he was a witness in an arson case (Hertford Mercury, 6 March 1852 p3). On 3 September 1853 he was a witness in a theft case at Rye House Station. The Hertford Mercury 13 Oct 1855 p3 records Frederick Wood, convicted of an assault on Thomas Hodge, Parish Constable of Whitwell. The last of Thomas's Hertfordshire cases mentioned in the press involved the theft of apples. Thomas stopped and checked two men carrying a sack of apples - later proving these to be stolen by matching the apple variety and an individual apple to a broken branch on the loser's tree. After court, when he was conveying the two offenders to gaol, there was an escape attempt, and the press praised Thomas for his courage and tenacity in holding onto his prisoner. (Herts Guardian 14 Oct 1856 p3)

When his son, Charles, married in Sept 1858, Thomas's occupation was shown in the register as "Policeman".The 1861 Census records Thomas and his wife, two children and a grand child, at Great Hadham in Hertfordshire, his occupation: police constable. He left the Hertfordshire Constabulary on pension on 20th March 1867, due to sickness. By the time of the 1871 census, Thomas had retired and gave his occupation as "annuitant". He was living at The Sun Inn, High St, Broxbourne, Ware, Herts. The head of household was his daughter, Mary Ann Filler b.1830, carrier and beerhouse keeper. Also resident were her four children, a nephew and 5 lodgers, Thomas died in Royston in 1879 aged seventy one.

We do not currently know the precise basis on which Thomas Hodge policed Bassingbourn. At different times his status may well have changed. He was reported to be a Constable in 1839. Was he paid by the vestry or serving unpaid but charging for specific police work, like attending court or conveying prisoners? Was he serving over a number of years as a substitute, paid to take the place of others nominated for the role? His residence was in Bassingbourn for a number of years and around 1849-51 he was employed by the Inspectors appointed under the Lighting and Watching Act 1833. Earlier he had professional connections across the county border with the Royston Association For The Protection of Persons and Property. Usually such associations helped their members if they became the victim of a crime, with rewards, advertising and prosecution support, but unusually it would appear that the Royston Association employed and deployed police officers. Would the Bassingbourn Vestry have simply paid the Royston Association for agreed policing hours? Could this have been funded by local voluntary contributions? Did the Royston Association membership include residents in parishes outside Royston, who could then draw upon the Association's professional police?

(grateful thanks to Andy Wiseman for details of the Hertfordshire Constabulary career of Thomas Hodge)

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