Police in the Age of Improvement

Barrie, David G.

doi:10.4324/9781843925637

Cited by 17 publications

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“…86 It also suggests that these ideals might have had important roles to play in shaping eighteenthcentury law enforcement in general, offering a new dimension to discourse which has focused mainly on nineteenth-century associational activity. 89 But disagreements had to be worked out in a hostile political climate. In the ensuing debates on the merits of police reform in Scottish towns, there were few direct references to 'civil society' and 'civic virtue' per se.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Police in civil society: police, Enlightenment and civic virtue in urban Scotland,c. 1780–1833

Barrie

2010

Urban History

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ABSTRACT:Based on how notions of civil society and civic virtue were defined in Enlightenment Scotland, this article assesses how far these ideals shaped police development in Scottish towns, c. 1780–1833. It argues that both concepts provided a framework for the development of ‘police’ as a broad mechanism of urban government. Collectively, civil society and civic virtue offered a wide-ranging, intellectual backdrop presupposing ideas on police, improvement and polite society, with the new police model bearing a striking resemblance to how these ideals were imagined and constructed at the time.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Police in civil society: police, Enlightenment and civic virtue in urban Scotland,c. 1780–1833

Barrie

2010

Urban History

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“…As he suggests, this was 'indicative of the fact that social relations were becoming increasingly tense'. 110 Indeed, the year 1812 was one suffused with disorder and social dislocation that stretched well beyond Edinburgh. In January an attempt was made to destroy power looms in Kirkman Finlay's cotton mill at Deanston, near Stirling.…”

Section: Punishmentmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Attack of the ‘half-formed persons’: the 1811–2 Tron Riot in Edinburgh Revisited

Knox¹

2012

The Scottish Historical Review

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The existing historiography of crowds and mob behaviour tends to emphasise systemic conflict, or class struggle. As a result, historians have entrenched the 'protesting crowd' as the dominant image of past encounters between authority and people. However, what if the riot lay outside the existing nomenclature of social relations? What if, at least on the surface, there was no community to defend, no established grievance, and no negotiation with the authorities to resolve the grievances behind the protests? This article addresses these issues through a forensic examination of the seemingly anarchic Tron riot of 1811-12, using the precognitions of victims and perpetrators -a source untapped by previous historians. Far from being historically unintelligible, the author argues that the actions of the rioters when placed within the context of deteriorating class relations and increased tensions in Edinburgh society in the early nineteenth century are comprehensible. The Tron Riot marked a symbolic turning point in the traditional relationship between the mob and the authorities: negotiation became less dependent on the psychological balance of power but more on open displays of overwhelming coercive power.Disorder and riot were part and parcel of everyday life in Scotland in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The most common riot was over food: its cost and its scarcity. However, there were also industrial, militia, patronage and political riots too, as well as other kinds of minor disturbances, such as street brawls. 1 While historians may disagree with 1 W.H. Fraser, 'Patterns of Protest', in T.M. Devine and R.

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“…151 Both emphasise the fact that the new police came early to urban Scotland and cast doubt on the notion that the Metropolitan Police formed the pattern for all other forces. 152 Barrie insisted that debates over where the new police emerged first were pointless 'given the level of continuity between the old and the new police.' 153 List's two-tier system is a good example of this continuity; change took place one step at a time.…”

Section: IVmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…152 Barrie insisted that debates over where the new police emerged first were pointless 'given the level of continuity between the old and the new police.' 153 List's two-tier system is a good example of this continuity; change took place one step at a time. This article moves the debate away from the cities by addressing the development of policing in the counties of Scotland and outlining List's influential system of rural policing.…”

Section: IVmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alfred John List and the Development of Policing in the Counties of Scotland, c. 1832–77

Smale¹

2013

J Scottish Historical Studies

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List (1798List ( -1883 commenced his police career in the fledgling Metropolitan Police and then was selected to head the first county force in Scotland. His methods influenced county forces throughout Scotland and between the 1830s and the 1850s, a dramatically fluid period in police history, as his system allowed a gentle transition from part-time to full-time officers. He was the leading theorist and most influential writer of his time on the establishment of the rural police in Scotland. He articulated the purposes of the rural police and specifically stated how these aims should be achieved. This article will demonstrate the importance of this 'moral entrepreneur' in the history of policing. As will be seen, he gathered together ideas from many sources in Scotland and England on how policing should develop and these, combined with restrictions on money and manpower, influenced the manner in which he could set-up a new police force. His system of rural policing, refined whilst he was in charge of Haddingtonshire (or East Lothian) police and Edinburghshire (or Midlothian) police, emerged under the pressure of a number of local and national imperatives and was adopted throughout Scotland but was particularly popular in the border counties. 1 This was a two-tier system comprising a core of full-time constables augmented by part-time officers that allowed a gentle transition for the new police from their establishment until the requirement for an efficient force of men, ensured that policing became a full-time occupation. He is a significant figure because his Treatise, above all, set the agenda for the way that the counties of Scotland would 1 In the twelfth century the office of Sheriff was introduced to Scotland. The areas under the jurisdiction of the sheriffs were known as shires: thus Haddingtonshire and Edinburghshire. Following the union of Scotland and England in 1707 the term 'county' began to replace 'shire'. Haddingtonshire was also known as the county of Haddington and East Lothian, the terms seem to have been interchangeable from the late seventeenth century; similarly Edinburghshire and Midlothian. For uniformity East Lothian and Midlothian will be used in this article. The counties of central and southeast Scotland are shown on Betts' Improved Educational Maps: Scotland of 1852.

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Police in the Age of Improvement

Cited by 17 publications

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Police in civil society: police, Enlightenment and civic virtue in urban Scotland,c. 1780–1833

Police in civil society: police, Enlightenment and civic virtue in urban Scotland,c. 1780–1833

The Attack of the ‘half-formed persons’: the 1811–2 Tron Riot in Edinburgh Revisited

Alfred John List and the Development of Policing in the Counties of Scotland, c. 1832–77

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