Tag: Research
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COPPERING BY THE CODE, September 2021
Top 5 Quotes from Sir Howard Vincent’s Police Code (1889) If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll know I wanted to be a police officer when I was younger but couldn’t for health reasons. In spite of this, I’m still fascinated by the culture and psyche of policing. I believe it’s an…
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WRITING NOTES: Blind Characters, July 2021
During my visit to the Bow Street Police Museum in June my friend and I read about the magistrate John Fielding, otherwise known as the Blind Beak of Bow Street. She remarked to he clearly hadn’t allowed his impairment to hinder his career and how I had done the same. Although I’m not blind my…
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SUMMER ENTERTAINMENTS IN VICTORIAN LONDON, August 2020
We’ve experienced a few intense heat waves over the course of this Summer, and it’s not over yet. The pandemic has also affected our plans for holidays abroad, parties, and even dining out. Yet, what entertainments would’ve been available to the members of the Bow Street Society in 1896? Whilst foreign travel was reserved for…
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OBJECTS OF THE BOW STREET SOCIETY, July 2020
For May and June’s blogs I was fortunate enough to have a virtual coffee with the curators of the Metropolitan Police Historic Collection and the Virtual Typewriter Museum respectively. These chats made me reflect on my own antique collection which I display on my stand at book signing events. Therefore, I decided to use this…
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COFFEE WITH A CURATOR: Paul Robert, Virtual Typewriter Museum, June 2020
Welcome to June’s blog and the second instalment of ‘Coffee with a Curator’, a series of interviews intended to give you an insight into the captivating work of curators from around the world. You may read the first interview with Dr Clare Smith, Historic Collection Curator at the Heritage Centre dedicated to the Metropolitan Police…
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BOW STREET SOCIETY’S LONDON: Tower of London, April 2019
A glimpse into the real-life world of London in 1896. The Tower of London attracts millions of tourists every year and it’s been on my “bucket list” of places to visit for a long time. In March I was finally able to tick it off. The photograph above is of the famous White Tower that…
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WHERE DID “COPPER” COME FROM? September, 2019
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The 190th Anniversary of the Founding of the Metropolitan Police Force The 29th September 2019 will mark the 190th anniversary of the founding of the Metropolitan Police by Sir Robert Peel. It’s difficult for many to imagine a world in which there’s no police. Almost more difficult to imagine is a society so resistant to…
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BRAM STOKER’S WHITBY, December 2018
During the weekend before Christmas I was fortunate to enjoy a stay in the Yorkshire coastal town of Whitby with friends. As it’s become synonymous with Bram Stoker and his great Gothic work Dracula I thought it would be fitting to feature it in this month’s blog. I’d always wanted to visit Whitby after reading about it…