Perth and Kinross Constabulary and its predecessors

Reference:GB 252 POL1
Dates of Creation:1842-1975
Language of Material:English
Physical Description:

Scope and Content
Administrative records:Perthshire Constabulary: Police committee minutes, 1855-1922; General order books, 1842-1930; Chief Constables’ letter and memoranda books, 1856-1930; Letter books, 1847-1930; Miscellanea including report books, 1842-1868.Perthshire and Kinross-shire Constabulary: General order books, 1930-1964; General orders instruction series, 1939-1964; Chief Constables’ letter and memoranda books, 1930-1949; Letter books, 1930-1964; CID letter books, 1940-1945; ARP letter books, 1939-1945.Perth and Kinross Constabulary: General orders instruction series, 1964-1969; Letter books, 1964-1975. Perth City Police: General orders, 1893-1943; Letter books, 1895-1943.Establishment records:Perthshire Constabulary: Registers of appointment as constables, 1845-1880; Enrolment book, 1855-1877; Register of officers and constables, 1862-1921; Register of declarations and affirmations, 1881-1919; Register of candidates for Perthshire Police, 1897-1922; Registers of police and defaulters, 1842-1891; Records of contributions, Perthshire Constabulary superannuation and funeral fund, 1846-1875; Railway constabulary registers of appointment, Scottish Central Railway, 1845-1877, Dundee and Perth Railway and Glasgow Corporation Waterworks, 1845-1859; Register of appointment as private constables, 1878-1905; Reports on the state of the force, 1888-1910; Printed regulations, 1856-1879.Perth City Police: Registers of police and defaulters, 1894-1921; Pay books, 1849-1867, 1884-1941, 1942-1947, 1956-1963; Appointments for Perth City Special Constabulary, undated; Annual inspection reports, 1931-1952; Monthly strength returns, 1941-1962; Orders and regulations, 1882.Criminal records:Perthshire Constabulary: Registers, 1855-1930; Registers of juvenile offenders, 1903-1930; Charge books, 1855-1912; Information books, 1855-1897; Photographic and conviction records, 1875-1906, 1912-1930; Reports of sudden deaths and casualties, 1904-1930; Miscellanea including Perth Bridge Station memorandum book, 1844-1922; Dunkeld Section road patrol book, 1860-1863; Register of Convicts on Licence, 1882-1930.Perthshire and Kinross-shire Constabulary: Registers, 1930-1946; Registers of juvenile offenders, 1930-1962; Occurrence books, 1939-1966; Register of Convicts on Licence, 1930-1942; Photographic and conviction records, 1930-1955; Reports of sudden deaths and casualties, 1930-1956.Perth City Police: Court books, 1893-1915, 1939-1949; Registers of juvenile court, 1934-1961; Magistrates’ note books, 1883-1894; Report, charge and information books, 1919-1943, 1944-1946; Annual reports of crimes and offences, 1953-1963; Complaint books, 1865-1866; Criminal registers, 1898-1907, 1915-1943; Register of criminals remitted to sheriff, 1883-1944; Registers of prisoners, 1885-1963.Perth and Kinross Constabulary: Complaint book, 1974-1975; Registers of Juvenile Offenders, 1964-1965; Occurrence books, 1964-1966Miscellanea:Perthshire Constabulary: Press cuttings books, 1899-1925; Cattle plague record, 1865-1866; Perth County Council Weights and Measures Committee minutes, 1907-1913; Register of licenses of poisons and pharmacy, 1916-1930; Register of public houses and licensed grocers, 1914-1930.Perthshire and Kinross-shire Constabulary: Register of licenses of poisons and pharmacy, 1930-1947; Register of public houses and licensed grocers, 1930-1950.Perth City Police: Information on stolen property, 1932-1941; Aliens Identity Certificate Holders, 1916-1919; Register of British Permit Book Holders (with photographs), 1916-1918; Census of vagrants, 1908-1940; Registers: picture houses, 1916-1962, brokers, 1916-1964, licensed victuallers, 1917-1961, pedlars’ certificates, 1925-1964, dance halls and stage plays, 1950-1964.
Administrative / Biographical History
From the seventeenth century until the mid-nineteenth century, justices of the peace (JPs) were empowered to appoint two constables in each parish, whose duties included attending quarter sessions, reporting crimes and serving warrants. The funding for this was supposed to come from the rogue money collected by the Commissioners of Supply in each county, but parish constables were not well funded and the work was unpopular. By 1800 a few counties were experimenting with chief constables and county constabularies. The Rural Police (Scotland) Act, 1839, which allowed Commissioners of Supply to make an additional assessment for establishing and maintaining a constabulary, led to the setting up of several county constabularies, but reform of county policing throughout Scotland did not occur until the Police (Scotland) Act, 1857, which compelled all counties in Scotland who had not already done so to establish and maintain a police force. County police forces were administered by a police committee or a constabulary committee made up of Commissioners of Supply, the Lord Lieutenant of the county and the Sheriff of the county. The Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889 transferred the powers of the former police committees or constabulary committees of the Commissioners of Supply to Standing Joint Committees. These were composed of equal numbers of county councillors and commissioners of supply and the Sheriff-Principal. These, in turn, were abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929, which placed supervision of county constabularies under police committees of county councils.
The earliest form of policing in Scotland was the duty of watch and ward, carried out by burgesses in burghs from at least the twelfth century until the local and national police acts of the 19th century. Several towns, notably Edinburgh, augmented this with an armed town guard in periods of crisis. In the second half of the 18th century several burghs attempted to improve policing by obtaining local acts of parliament to empower forms of local taxation to pay for watching and other functions. In 1800 Glasgow was the first burgh to establish a police force on modern lines. Several other burghs obtained local acts to establish police forces soon after 1800, and by 1833 a series of general police acts permitted any existing royal burgh to establish a police system with additional powers covering cleansing etc without the need for a local act of parliament. Perth established its force in 1811
The General Police (Scotland) Act, 1850 extended the power to become a police burgh to places with a population over 1200. The General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act, 1862 reduced the minimum population for the creation of a police burgh to 700. In 1892 the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act ended the overlap and sometimes conflict that had existed between burgh councils and police commissioners in burghs by restricting powers to either one or the other. Only those burghs with 7000 or more inhabitants were allowed to keep their police forces, and new forces were restricted to burghs with a population of over 20,000. Police commissioners were abolished by the Town Councils (Scotland) Act, 1900 which replaced them and Burgh Councils with a single Town Council in each case.
Under the terms of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, Perthshire Constabulary was amalgamated with the police force of Kinross-shire to form Perthshire and Kinross-shire Constabulary. In 1964 the Perth and Kinross Police (Amalgamation) Order was approved by the Secretary of State. The separate police forces of Perthshire and Kinross-shire and Perth City were amalgamated into the Perth and Kinross Constabulary, administered and managed by a Joint Police Committee.
Arrangement
Organised chronologically within types of records by police force, but numbered sequentially
Access Information
Data protection rules apply to some records, so those holding personal data and less than 100 years old are closed to public scrutiny. Apply to the Archivist for further information
Other Finding Aids
Hard copy list available at Perth & Kinross Archive
Conditions Governing Use
Reproduction is available subject to preservation requirements, copyright and data protection restrictions. Charges are made for this service. Applications should be made to Archive staff.
Appraisal Information
Nothing destroyed
Accruals
Nothing expected