Police – County Constabularies
From the 17th century until the mid-19th century, justices of the peace (JPs) were empowered to appoint two constables in each parish, whose duties included attending the quarter sessions court, reporting crimes and serving warrants.[1] The funding for this was supposed to come from the rogue money, a local tax levied specifically to pay for the apprehension of criminals, collected by the commissioners of supply in each county. These 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 Rogue Money (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.[2] However, 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.[3]
County police forces were appointed and supervised 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] In 1947 all local authorities operating a police force were required to have a police committee.[7]
Although legislation required that every county would have a police force, it also enabled police authorities to develop an amalgamation scheme.
County police forces ceased to exist when counties were abolished as part of local government reorganisation in 1975. Instead, police forces were reorganised on a regional basis, (subject to any amalgamations), and the regional and islands councils became the police authority for the police force in their area.[8]
Police Scotland is responsible for the surviving historical records of its predecessor police forces and has agreements with a number of local authority archives to hold many of these records which are no longer required for operational purposes (see police records locations for details).
Compilers: SCAN contributors (2000). Editors: Pam McNicol (Stirling Council Archives, 2021), Elspeth Reid (2021)
Related Knowledge Base entries
Police and Policing (introduction)
Police amalgamations and reorganisations
Police Chief Constable annual reports
Police Chief Constable letter books
Police correspondence files, case files & administrative files
Police instruction books & manuals
Police licensing and similar records
Police staff records or personnel records
Bibliography
Barrie, David G., Police in the Age of Improvement: police development and the civic tradition in Scotland 1775-1865 (Willan, 2008)
Davidson, Neil, Louise A. Jackson and David M. Smale ‘Police Amalgamation and Reform in Scotland: The Long Twentieth Century’ The Scottish Historical Review, 45.1: No 240 (2016), pp. 88-111
Dinsmor, Alastair, and Robert H. J. Urquhart, ‘The Origins of Modern Policing in Scotland’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 36-44
Harrison, John G., ‘Policing the Stirling Area, 1660-1706’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 16-24
Smale, David, ‘Alfred John List and the Development of Policing in the Counties of Scotland, c. 1832-77’ Journal of Scottish Historical Studies 33.1 (2013), pp. 52-80.
Stallion, Martin and David S. Wall, The British police: forces and chief officers 1829-2012 (Police History Society, 2011)
Stewart, Marion M., ‘A Policeman’s Lot: Police Records in Dumfries and Galloway, 1850-1950’ Scottish Archives, 7 (2001), pp. 25-35
References
[1] Act Anent the justices for keiping of the kingis majesties peace and their constables’ The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1617/5/22. <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1617/5/22 >[accessed 8 June 2021].
[2] Rogue Money (Scotland) Act 1839 (2 & 3 Vict. c.65).
[3] Police (Scotland) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.72).
[4] Police (Scotland) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c.72.).
[5] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.50).
[6] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25) s.3.
[7] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. VI c.43) s.112.
[8] Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65) s.146.