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British Police Sword

3K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  frogfiller 
#1 ·
I'm not a sword collector as such. Bayonets are my thing, but I also have a small collection of vintage British police items, concentrating on painted truncheons, (William III through Victoria), and tipstaffs.
Illustrated here is a highly unusual pairing of a tipstaff with a sword. Early Victorian, named and numbered to match, and probably carried by a police Commissioner, doing the research into ownership still on my to-do list.

 
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#5 ·
Tipstaff

Indeed, a very early form of identification for law enforcement officers. Dating back to Egyptian times. Literally, a staff with a tip. In early times, tipped with horn, ivory or other recognizable symbols of office. Some Georgian and Victorian examples here:
 
#8 ·
Thanks - and a touch of envy isn't such a bad thing. I can spur you on to search out similar stuff, and who knows? Widen interests . . .
Mid 19th. Century British police forces were sometimes armed, most usually with a cutlass sword. These were produced with blades from obsolete cavalry swords, hence the curve in most examples. Sometimes they were specifically produced with straight blades. Hilts usually followed the same form, brass fittings with a curved knucklebow and sharkskin covered wood grip. Not carried on regular patrol, but drill regularly practiced. If you're fortunate, you may encounter examples named to a particular Constabulary. Parker Field were the principal supplier and retailer to police forces of the period.
 
#11 ·
That is a reasonable observation. However, tipstaffs were more a badge of office, rather than a weapon. Some tipstaffs were only vest pocket size. It was simply sufficient to show a tipstaff to an offender to show you had the authority to take them into custody. One has to keep in mind that officers of the court were dressed in everyday clothing. Uniformed policing didn't come into effect until the early 19th Century. Thus a tipstaff was a powerful symbol of authority.
This is an example of a Victorian tipstaff alongside a Canadian 10 cent piece, just to give some sense of size.

Truncheons were the usual 'weapon' for law enforcement officers. Before organized policing, some form of truncheon or cudgel was carried by bailiffs, game wardens, parish constables and other keepers of law and order to enforce their authority. It was not until the reign of William III (1677-94) that painted truncheons, often decorated with the kings crown, evolved to designate the authority bestowed the bearer by the courts.
These may have been handy for a good wack over the head, but in reality were sufficient to demonstrate the presence of a law officer.
A dated truncheon for the Parish of St. Pancras, Middlesex, London William IV reign.

Towards the mid 1800s, with the introduction of uniformed constabulary in large cities, truncheon length and weight became more standardized, although decorating them with the name of the Constabulary and monarch crown continued through the Great War.
One also has to keep in mind that until the establishment of organized policing, when civil disturbance and not infrequent riots occurred, it was the armed forces that were called out to keep the peace. Hence the existence of constabulary carbines . . .and their bayonets!
 
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