The National Register.
London, England, 1817-10-13 00:00:00

POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS.

J. DARNLEY called In; and Examined.
Where do you live ?—No. 9, Great Saffron-hill.
What are you there?—Beadle of the parish.
Of what parish ?—it. Andrew's parish, Hatton-Garden,
and Ely-rents division.
How long have you been in that office ?—About seven
yea, s.
Have you any what are called " Flash-houses" in that
parish?—We base some that are not quite so orderly as they
should be.
no you know the state of the Thatched House?—'Chat is
in the parish but not in our liberty.
Is the Thatched House, in Field-lane, a house of bad cha-
s
raeter?—Ves it is.
State to the committee whethef yon lately fetched a thief
oat of that house ?—Yes, I have frequently been there, and
I lately went to fetch a thief who had committed a highway
robbery : he Mlle out very gently with me, and after I was
ont of the house, and•i-ad cone abont a hundred yards, I was
surreunded by twenty es thirty people, who came out of that
very house to rescue him ; but they did not rescue him, for
I gat more assistance, and took him to the watelAtoe-e.
‘Vhat became of him?--The prison who was robbed could
not swear to Lim, and so he get off. I took one on Sunday
night, who is convicted.
o.lt of the seine house?—Yes, he came from the same
.Itonse.

Have yon many thieves in your parlsh?—A great many.
Do thcli wombers increase?—They do.
Arc there many bad houses in your parish?—Yes, several.
Of what descriptiou, brothel., or houses of ill fame ?
Vies, what we call brothels.
What is the butt. of yoor district on the Sunday morning
—Why it is very bad indeed.
In what respect :—Those houses are full of low Irish, and
they drink %cry much. They get drunk, and roll about the
streets.
Are the shops open, and stalls set out on a Sunday ?—Yes.
What species of shops are they i—Clothes shops; they
hang out all their clothes for sale, and all I can do I cannot
prevent them. I have taken them before the Magistrate,
and they seen' ui t sick of my bringing them there.
Do the Magistrates interfere in thus?—They say that they
wish I would lint he so troublesome.
They desire you oat to be so tronblesome ?—Ycs.
They wish to al oid thc trouble of sappressing this evil?—
It appears so.
You have a great many shops for selling old clothes, second
hand shoes, and other article., which ire c amity open on a
Sunday ?-1' es, ill I go mold and make them take them M.
You stilted that the Magistrates do nut wish to have t'omn.,
.plaints of tins nit brought before them, can you recollect
any particular insta nee? -1 think it was about half a year ago
that the people who belouged to the city wished me to meet
them to suppress them„,,id front that there arose a goon deal
of dispute, and I !relies e they had them before the Mani'.
Irate, sonw of those who a.si.lrd MC half a dozen firms ; the
magistrate express( d a wish that we might agree one among
another: he said to me, " not bring Mee so often." On
uue occasion of the Magistrate sayilig so, I told him that it
was tiny ditty to bring them, and as such 4 should bring them;
the Magistrate g-bt from off Ina chair, and said, "If you
know better than 1, take Ely place."
Itt short, the ialagistrates discouraged complaints of this
kind?—Yes, they did.
Are the lower classes in your parish generally riotous on
the Sundays?-Ics, they are ; in some respects, for this
reason: when you take them before the Magistrate.. they!
wily say, " Have they been in the watch-house siime you
took then? If I answer yes, they say,-" That is punishment
'lough, let them be di-eharged.
Ilow.many are generally in the state you have described
SatieonMill WI the Sunday maiming three to five
hundred.

..... .
Are they mostly intoxicated ?—The greatest number of.
them.

From three to fire !mitred, are generally in the streets of
Saffron-Lilt on a Sunday morning, and the greater part of
them are intoxicated?—Yes, they are.
Do the liquor shops carry on much business ou a Sunday
morning ?—A great deal.
Do you think that the week's earning! are generally spent
on the Saturday night and the Sunday morning?—Yea, I
•horrid suppose they are ; the houses a►e so full, thht
you can scarcely get into them.
1)o you mean an a Stintiay morning? Yes, on Sunday
morning. The y very seldom call for lets titan a put ; but
less tkan halts a gallon, as Collllllolltl as can be.
For their Otill individual ttse ? Yes.
Is it commowto call fur tali quarts of porter for their own
di inking ?—Vet, they do.
Does drionkenness increase or decrease? I do make the
PE mark, that though they complain of time• being bad, there
ate as many drunken people as ever, particularly among the
:Irish of that district. -
Do they hold wakes on the death of their relations or
friends ?—y es they do. Last Tuesila a woman died, I
meat there nt Saturday night at t wets e o'clock : while I wits
there, the d.oglitei died ; the wotuau had had parish relief ;
the Milli came out and said, " My daughto is dead, what can
you do fur me by the parish?" 1 said to him, There arc at
this %cry time, tram ten to fifteen galhorwof porter before you,
and more than that sanely you (Nan Miry the thuiehter and
the wife• amid all." He said he did not sioulit but there was'
as much us that.

I. it the custom of the Irish to make collections for the bu-
rial of Vico eN.

Are thinie.ellllteiion. appropriated for that purpoe, or to
any other believe three 11111 C% out of four they are :pew
iu beer, asuoi.iiia tutee. u, .11111 YU tun
The COIII.OI tttt 1111111ele for I ht. burial ere .pent in drink ?
general. I rerun.-et one 11,4%; \I ra. lulhvan N L.h. it 1011.1%c het
dam/liter old 111.111 C ofkl to Wake toliave her lin-
rieil ars site called it, ileettnil ; that heing hail a still,
seri paint, anal that Ate vent in drink. They made
a %anoint b11101'111)11011, gulf was likvw Ise !petit y made
thud awl that was and the ilanuliter lay till fille.
putrid, :11111 1111 ..wp timid sinvli her in the .acre*, anti
from that a fever got into the !twits w ere six burl.
and eighteen or t% riot y ill.
And the parish %ere tn.ligetl to bury tilt rorwe at last?—
Yrs.

Mr. statement :
I was overseer at the time. It was with great reluctance
that we let the body go from the *orkhouse to be buried,
but the entreaty of the mother was such that we granted it ;
and I very much regretted to find that, seven days afterwards
it was not taken away; we were not aware but that the
corpse was buried.
Was the mother a pauper as wet) as the daughter?—She
was.
[To Mr. Barnley.j—Do you know what had been the mode
of life of the mother?—She had lived for years by the pros-
titution of that daughter, but she becoming diseased was
obliged to go to the workhouse,
[To Mr. Slade.]—Do you know that to be the fart?—Yes
very well.
[To Mr. Barnley.]—Are the children of the Irish bronzlit
np in such a may that the boys mostly become thieves, and the
girls prostitutes ?--I hardly know an instance but what they
ale.

Are there many girls of your division of the parish who
live by prostitution ?—Yes, there is Brewhouse Yard, Grey-
hound-court, and a place we call the Terrace, and White's
Yard, inhabited by them.
State what you know respecting a man of the name of
Cox, in Chick-lane,who keeps a brothel?—He has a daughter;
she is now, I belies e, about sixteen; I believe she has been
five or six years upon the town.
Does 'he take men to her father's house ? She dues.
And lie receives the money for her prostitution?—There
is no doubt about it; I have not seen him receive it, but she
takes the men there, and the money is received there of
course, by him or by the mother.
Have the parish ever taken pains to remove those lionses of
ill fame ?—I have taken pains myslf, and I have brew all the
money out of pocket, and sometimes got myself into expell-
ees into the bargain.
Arc not the houses you mean of very low character?—
Very low.

Hid yon ever detect any respectable pe:sons in those
houses?—Yes, I have.
Have you heard the Magistrates complain that the prison,:
are too lull ?—lies.

When bad women are broaght np, have they discharged
them ? —Yes, very frequently.
Are the police officers rewarded with ten shilling's when
they apprehend vagrants ?—Yes; I have thought it a very
great shame it should be done; when the poor people come
to the police office at Hatton-gardeo, they come asking for
a pass, the police officers will give them a penny or two-
pence, and then bring them in mid swear they found them
be,,,,eisig, when in fact they never begged at all.
Have you seen that with your-own eyes ?--I have.
Yon have seen poor people come to the police office mere-
ly for the purpose of applyinglor a pass, and then committed
as vagrants? —Yes, I have ; the police officers say the Ma-
gistrates cannot give you a pass, and take them to the door,
and give them a penny or two-pence.
Ito the police officers desire them to beg ?—Some of them
will Rill, before the Magistrates faces, that they never did
beg ; but the officers will go in and swear Heat they have
lakes this roan begging in the streets ; he is seta for seven
days to the House of Correction. They get ten shillings for
their trouble. Perhaps the man is an Irishman or a Scotch-
man, and they cannot pass them, and they will pass them in
two or three days, and commit them again, and get number
ten shillings.
Can you state the names of any officers whom you have
sect do this --I have seen the two heads ; I have seen Hint
mind Wainwright. •
Did pro ever complain of this to Hie itla?istrates ?
I have said that I thought it wrong ; but I never complained
m itch.
Do you recollect any instance of a poor man complaining
of it ?—Yes one Wall in a passion in the office 011 e day, and
said he never begged at mill, nor meant to lag, that he only
wanted to be start home.

Did the MilOstrom; believe the man or the °Meer ?—They
made no answer :it ult.

Was the man committed had been committed ; and
was in prima because he had been at lit to Bridewell and did
not like it.

Is it likely that a be.zgar would go to the door of a police
office to beg ?--By.no Jimans.
Welen yon complained to the Magistrates of this practice,
was any notice taken of it by the officers the miter
°thee. they said, I haul no [inkiness to interfere in it : it was
uo loaminess of mine, and they would turn me out of the
office. _ _

Who were those officers ?---Vonu7, Read was one, and
George Wood was another.
Do you think the county is robbed to any considerable
amount, by beadles or police ofheet; taking up beggars tin•
the sake of the tell shilling;,_ shell they have actually not
been found begging I am ;arc or it, to the amount,
I should suppose,of several hundred; a year, the county rates
are robbed.

Who pays the money ordered by the Magistrates to the po-
lice officers i—The high constable, Smart.
ror what does he pay the amount of those re-
wards ?—Fur the Holborn division.
Not fur the whole county?—\o.
Is it your opinion thut police officers would rather np
prebend bezgars than repined thieves —Some do look very
sharp after them, for the sake of the ten shillings.
Is there any cant term with respect to those re e —They

hat get •• an easy tin shiltings." Sometimes they VI ill o 111110 C
anothet, and sav, " I plied that man, ;tint you
have got him ; yOll have got •‘ an easy ten shillings, I ee. "
Is it your opinion that those tell shillings should he disal-
lowed i---11y all means in the world ; I think it is the great-
est robbery that can e‘ist how far the law might be right
when it ssas made, I cannot say.
It is a welt's. borthen upon the comity rate, in your opi-
Mon i—Cee tainly
Is this money paid in the City of London, on the appre.
hensiou of beggars ? I have been lammed that the Lord
Mayor set ipg so lunch of it done, has discontinued it; but I
ilit not know the tact. - -

What 114 the general character of the police officers ?-11
,10 uut knee t out's is not of the be.t.

The eancnces rf tlie Itionnersinith BriaCc, w Lich
wtih ot• trill teet 11%yr tile Itivcr ThAlocs,i, t•stiointed at :10,00111.
anti Out of the • • giroort ore, Ibr Eitat Loin
,100, or Bridge of TiAtalaar, nt 17utbt rbithc, it ll its chord
o ill be I lOJ tell, and its altitude, to allow Onto, to ssil be-
neath it. will 111116.114 y, be 1141 fect abuse the tide at hi: lu
water, k reik,ine.l not to exceed the um of 309.0001. .flic
latter sttlietnre will consist of three ilrelleg, Of S2O feet each,
over the water, and eight colic; A, Uf Ilium than YOU feet emelt,
on the a%..-1,4,, over the laud on ,:itltet

THE NATIONAL 111S45ItTEU.
Slade being present, made the following statem