English police officers are known as bobbies because:

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The Peelers

English police officers are known as bobbies because:

A Peeler or Bobby
Image from Punch, 1845, courtesy of the Harold B. Lee Library on Flickr NKCR

The origin of the nickname for the first police officers.

Peelers was the name given to the first police officers. They were named after Sir Robert Peel who introduced them, first in Ireland, and then in England. They were also known as Bobbies in England.

Peel was the Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1812 until 1818 at a time when Ireland was a troubled country with a disaffected country population suffering from agricultural depression, secret societies, gangs and sectarian violence.

Peel introduced the Peace of Preservation Act 1814 which established a Peace Preservation Force. The Force acted more as a security and paramilitary force than a force to prevent crime and protect property as it later became in England. Its main aim was to deal with any form of unrest and rioting, particularly in the country districts. A mobile unit of officers and a magistrate which would be dispatched to an area to quash any trouble. The officers soon became known as Peelers. Later in 1836, after a number of changes, the force became known as the Irish Constabulary.

General Matthew speaking in Parliament in 1817. Peel was present, hence the aside.
".. while the former was liable to be carried off without a moment's notice by a set of fellows well known in Ireland (he meant no disrespect to the Right Hon. Gentleman) by the name of Peelers and then to be harried before a set of intolerant and bigoted Orange magistrates."
Report on Parliament - Caledonian Mercury, Thursday, June 19, 1817 on the British Newspaper Archive.

In 1822, Peel was appointed Home Secretary of the British Government and he introduced a number of changes to the criminal law; and in 1829 in London, he founded a civil police force for the preservation and maintenance of law and order: The Metropolitan Police. Similar forces soon became established across the country.

The London officers were also called Peelers, and were also known as Bobbies. The origin of the latter is generally accepted as being named after Peel's first name, but some suggest that the name came from Bobby the Beadle. Before the foundation of the police, these were guardians of some of the London squares. Armed with canes, they kept order and made sure the squares were only used by residents and their guests.

Since then the police have been called many other names including: copper, cops, slops, scufty, bulky, rozzers, old bill, and crushers.

More articles on the History of Essex, Researching your Ancestors, and British History

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English police officers are known as bobbies because:

Ebay is a good source of old images of Essex towns and villages. If you're looking for pictures to add to your family tree album, then try one of the auctions, or there are several 'Buy It Now' shops offering postcards which have been touched up and improved - so if you're unsure about bidding, try these.

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English police officers are known as bobbies because:

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Police in London

English police officers are known as bobbies because:

 

&lt;/div&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td class="smallText"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td class="bodyText"&gt; &lt;p&gt;There are two main police forces that patrol London. The forces are separate, but wear similar dark navy blue uniforms. You can tell them a part from looking at the badge on their helmet.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;table width="500" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td height="170"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/helmet1.jpg" alt="Metropolitan Police helmet" width="149" height="150" border="2"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/helmet2.jpg" alt="helmet" width="138" height="150" border="1"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td class="smallText"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Metropolitan Police&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td class="smallText"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;City of London Police&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="subHeader"&gt;The Metropolitan Police force patrol London.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;br&gt; They wear very dark blue uniforms and white shirts, and some wear tall helmets, developed from the top hats worn by early policemen. Their dark blue uniforms are almost indistinguishable from black and earnt the police the nickname of the "&lt;strong&gt;boys in blue&lt;/strong&gt;".&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/poli.jpg" alt="police" width="167" height="200" hspace="10" border="1"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/pol.jpg" alt="policeman" width="223" height="200" hspace="10" border="1"&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;span class="smallText"&gt;Metropolitan Police&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/nsy.jpg" alt="sign" width="111" height="66" hspace="30" border="1" align="right"&gt;The Metropolitan Police headquarters is New Scotland Yard. Its officers' duties include protecting the Queen.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;span class="subHeader"&gt;The City of London has its own police force&lt;/span&gt;. &lt;br&gt; The City of London Police is responsible for the Square Mile - from the River Thames in the south to the Barbican Centre in the north, Holborn and Fleet Street to the west and Aldgate and Liverpool Street to the east.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The City of London police force was set up ten years after the Metropolitan force, although there has been some form of policing in the City of London since &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/Romans.html"&gt;Roman times&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/policecity.jpg" alt="image:hat" width="149" height="94"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/policityha.jpg" alt="image: hat" width="158" height="94" border="1"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td colspan="2" class="smallText"&gt; &lt;div align="center"&gt;Police ladies' hat and mans' cap with the distinctive red and white check band&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;p&gt; The City of London Police officers have a distinctive red and white check on their caps (or ladies' hats) and a gold-coloured helmet plate and gold-coloured buttons.&lt;br&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;table width="95%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td valign="top" class="smallText"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/police4.jpg" alt="police" width="150" height="200" border="1"&gt;&lt;br&gt; City of London Police &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td valign="top" class="smallText"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/police5.jpg" alt="police" width="126" height="200" border="1"&gt;&lt;br&gt; Metropolitan Police &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td valign="top" class="smallText"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/policedir.jpg" alt="police" width="150" height="200" border="1"&gt;&lt;br&gt; City of London Police &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;p class="subHeader"&gt;Nicknames for British Police&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Two nicknames for British police, '&lt;strong&gt;bobbies&lt;/strong&gt;' and '&lt;strong&gt;Peelers&lt;/strong&gt;', come from the founder of the 'Met' Police, Sir Robert Peel.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="subHeader"&gt;River Police&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The Metropolitan Police Marine Support patrols the &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://projectbritain.com/london/attractions/Thames.html"&gt;River Thames&lt;/a&gt; in speedboats. It is responsible for policing 84 miles of the &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://projectbritain.com/london/attractions/Thames.html"&gt;River Thames&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/riverthames/page34.htm"&gt;Teddington Lock&lt;/a&gt; (at Ham, west London) to Erith (in the London Borough of Bexley), and 12 miles of rivers and navigable creeks in the London area.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Its floating police station is by &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/riverthames/waterloo.htm"&gt;Waterloo Bridge&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/policeboat.jpg" alt="Police boat" width="310" height="150" hspace="10" border="1"&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p align="left" class="subHeader"&gt;Royal Police&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p align="left"&gt; &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://projectbritain.com/london/attractions/buckinghampalace.htm"&gt;Buckingham Palace&lt;/a&gt;, the London home of &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://projectbritain.com/london/royal.htm"&gt;the Queen&lt;/a&gt;, has its own police station.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="subHeader"&gt;Why are British policemen called Bobbies? &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Policemen became to be known as " bobbies" after Robert Peel who set up the first organised police service in London, 1829. Bobby is short for Robert.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/police1.jpg" alt="policeman" width="205" height="150" border="1"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/police2.jpg" alt="police" width="184" height="150" hspace="30" border="1"&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;span class="subHeader"&gt;The first professional Police&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p align="left"&gt; Before 1829, crime was policed by the&lt;strong&gt; Bow Street Runners&lt;/strong&gt; (1748-1829), the first professional police force in Britain.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p align="left" class="subHeader"&gt;Police Transport&lt;/p&gt; &lt;table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="0"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/policehorse.jpg" alt="image: police" width="186" height="200" hspace="20" border="1"&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;p class="subHeader"&gt;Do the policemen of England ride horses sometimes?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Yes. You can especially see policeman on horses in London. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;div align="center"&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/policeca.jpg" alt="image:police car" width="430" height="200" border="1"&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;span class="smallText"&gt;Not all police cars look like this one&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt; &lt;table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="0"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/policebik.jpg" alt="image:police bike" width="245" height="200" border="1"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/policecycl.jpg" alt="image:police cycle" width="160" height="200" border="1"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/london/images/policevan.jpg" alt="image:police van" width="305" height="200" border="1"&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td class="bodyText"&gt;&lt;div align="right"&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://projectbritain.com/london/crime.htm#top"&gt;&lt;img src="http://projectbritain.com/template/ba_top.jpg" alt="back to the top" width="40" height="40" border="0" align="right"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="style10"&gt;Learn about England and the other countries in Britain&lt;br&gt; from the children who live in ther&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-3913814856488297"; /* topic 728 horizontal */ google_ad_slot = "7103447260"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 15; //--&gt; <script type="text/javascript">

English police officers are known as bobbies because:
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English police officers are known as bobbies because:
English police officers are known as bobbies because:
English police officers are known as bobbies because:

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Are British police called bobbies?

In Britain today all policemen are commonly referred to as 'Bobbies'! Originally though, they were known as 'Peelers' in reference to one Sir Robert Peel (1788 – 1850). Today it is hard to believe that Britain in the 18th century did not have a professional police force.

Why are London police called Bobbies quizlet?

Nickname of officers in Britain named for Sir Robert Peel. Bobbies replaced the existing( and generally corrupt) system of parish constables and night watchmen. Earliest known system of policing in England.

Why are British police called peelers?

The term comes from the founder of the Metropolitan Police, William Wilberforce. The previous force named "The Bow Street Runners" was founded by Sir Robert Peel, hence another name, the Peelers.

Who were the bobbies and where does their name come from?

Robert Peel's system was a success, and by the mid-19th century large American cities had created similar police forces. In London, the policemen were so identified with the politician who created them that they were referred to as “Peelers” or—more memorably—“Bobbies,” after the popular nickname for Robert.