BY GRAHAM MAJOR
The London County Council began operating tramways in 1896 and by 1899 their operations had steadily grown that finally, in 1909, they operated nearly all tramways in London — a network of some 113 miles. In 1910, the London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1910, was passed. Section 44 allowed the Council to appoint persons as Special Constables. The Act read as follows:
London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1910
44 Subject to the conditions herein-after set forth any Metropolitan Police Magistrate may on the application of the Council all or so many as he thinks fit of the persons recommended to him for that purpose by the Council to act as Special Constables upon lands belonging to or under the control of the Council for the purposes of their tramway undertaking and the following provisions shall apply to every appointment so made :-
1 Every person so appointed shall make oath or declaration in due form of law before any Metropolitan Police Magistrate duly to execute the office of Constable :
2 Every person so appointed and having been sworn or having made declaration as aforesaid shall during the continuance of his appointment have all the powers protection and privileges of a Constable in respect of the exercise of his duties and may follow and arrest any person who has departed from any such lands as aforesaid after committing therein or thereon any offence for which he might have been arrested while within or upon such lands :
3 Any Metropolitan Police Magistrate or the Council may dismiss from his office or accept the resignation of any Constable so appointed and thereupon all powers protections and privileges belonging to such person by virtue of such appointment shall wholly cease :
4 Nothing in this Section contained shall restrict or affect the jurisdiction or powers of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis or the Commissioner of City Police or the police forces under their respective control :
5 A Constable appointed as aforesaid shall not act as such under the authority of this Section unless he be in uniform or provided with authority to act as a Constable which authority the Metropolitan Police Magistrate before whom such Constable make other declaration as aforesaid is hereby empowered to grant and if the Constable be not in uniform he shall show his authority whenever called upon to do so :
Provided that for the purpose of the appointment of any person to act under this section as a Special Constable within the city of London the foregoing provisions of this section shall be read and have effect as if a magistrate of the said city were referred to therein in lieu of a Metropolitan Police Magistrate.
In March 1910, Southwark Council wrote to seek an opinion on the proposal to appoint Constables for duty at tramway depots and in connection with other tramway services. In April a reply was sent by the Law and General Purposes Committee that forming a significant number of these Officers may impede with the duties of Metropolitan Police Special Constables and that, after debate, the proposal to appoint such Officers had been defeated.
In 1911, it was reported that consideration was being given to appointing uniformed Special Constables for service on the tramways at a suggested wage of 6d to 7d per hour. At this point there is no further information known as to whether any persons were ultimately appointed. However, a number of the Council's Tramway Investigation Officers were sworn under the Act. Their main duties most probably would have been the investigation of ticket fraud and revenue theft.
The style of Warrant Card Issued to LCC Staff in this Era (Submitted by Graham Major)
The style of Warrant Card Issued to LCC Staff in this Era (Submitted by Graham Major)
The style of Warrant Card Issued to LCC Staff in this Era (Submitted by Graham Major)
These men were absorbed into the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. They enjoyed much higher pay and better conditions of service than the new London Passenger Transport Board Police and were a problem for the Board. They were found work in different parts of the organisation with their old role falling to the new London Passenger Transport Board Police.
With the passing of the London Passenger Transport Act 1934, Section 44 of the 1910 Act was repealed.
Sources
- British Library
- Eastern Post, 19 March 1910, 09 April 1910
- London Evening Standard, 10 July 1911
- Leonard Bentley Tram image, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
