Robert Jeffries
Thames River Police Museum Speaker meeting 13-May-10
Police was set up and in 1839 it was absorbed into London‟s Metropolitan Police and became known as the Thames division.
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peaker Bob Jeffries, the curator of the Thames Police Museum Wapping
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ob came to speak to the club on the 13th. May. Having been a member of
the oldest police force in the capital he was the ideal person to be telling us about „The Marine Police.‟
n the early days of the Port of London, when the ships were of the masted
variety, the wharves were jammed with great rafts of ships due to the lack of spaces. John Harriet, the founder of the river police, was one of life‟s great doers. Among other things he was a magistrate a duelist and a captain in the army. From 1796 to 1797 the port was losing around £500,000 a year so he put forward the idea of a police force of some kind to combat the many crimes to parliament. Initially it was refused, but after Colquhoun had tweaked and down-sized the original plan it was passed, providing the funding came from the savings made by cutting down on the losses. Thus in 1798 the Thames River
he Wapping Police Station building, where the original force was stationed,
is still virtually the same today .The original police boats were rowed, but today they use Swedish-built craft capable of speeds of 30 to 40 knots. The crimes have changed over the many years that the force has been es- tablished, and the area of operation has expanded, meaning that there has to be a certain amount of overlapping and co-operation with the Essex and Kent Police forces.
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T E
he museum of which Bob is the curator is housed in the old carpenter‟s
workshop and is administered by The Thames Police Association.
t the end of a fascinating talk the vote of thanks was given by Rotarian
Mutel Kerr who said “Fellow Rotarians. Some of you have been taken down memory lane, and some have gained new insights into our treasured history, and for that we say Thank You.”
he gathered Rotarians responded in the traditional way with a warm round of
applause.
ditor‟s note:-There is an excellent website called the Thames River
Police Museum which is worth a visit. 22
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