| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 1712 |  | Last conviction for witchcraft was passed. The last executions for witchcraft were - in England 1680s and in Scotland in 1729. Helen Duncan, the last person convicted of Witchcraft. |
| 1748 |  | Henry FIELDING was appointed the magistrate at Bow Street. |
| 1751 |  | The Gin Act was passed. Henry FIELDING’s half-brother, John FIELDING became his assistant at Bow Street. |
| 1752 |  | The Covent Garden Journal was produced by Henry FIELDING, who starts to employ special officers at Bow Street in 1753. |
| 1754 |  | Sir Henry FIELDING died. He was succeeded at Bow Street by John FIELDING, blind from the age of nineteen and known as ‘The Blind Beak’. |
| 1755 |  | John FIELDING’s brings in the ‘Plan to Prevent Robberies’ Act making constables for the whole of City of Westminster and not just parish offices. Saunders WELCH appointed as the assistant to John FIELDING at Bow Street. |
| 1758 |  | John FIELDING’s ‘Account of the Origin and Effects of a Police set on foot’ is published. |
| 1760 |  | John FIELDING is knighted. |
| 1763 |  | The Bow Street Horse Patrol is created by Sir John FIELDING. |
| 1765 |  | Journeymen - Weavers riots in Spitalfields. |
| 1766 |  | Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England is published. |
| 1767 |  | Feb 24th: Patrick Redmond was revived after his hanging. |
| 1768 |  | Coal-heavers marched to the Palace Yard. John FIELDING persuaded leaders to meet the employers at Bow Street. |
| 1770 |  | First Parliamentary Commission on Police. The lease on John FIELDING’s house in Bow Street expired and was renewed for a further 10 years. |
| 1772 |  | Parliamentary enquiry into burglaries in London. |
| 1773 |  | Committee on Nightly Watch in the Metropolis are set up. Grants for Thief-Takers and the Horse Patrol are amalgamated. "The Weekly Pursuit" is published. |
| 1774 |  | Act for better regulation of Nightly Watch is passed. |
| 1780 |  | The Gordon Riots take place. Bow Street, Newgate prison and many other premises, particularly homes of Catholics, are badly damaged. Sir John FIELDING died. |
| 1782 |  | Sir Sampson WRIGHT is appointed magistrate at Bow Street, and organises patrols. |
| 1783 |  | Processions to Tyburn are discontinued. Use of a "drop" is introduced to improve the hanging method. |
| 1784 |  | Litchfield Street Police Office closed on the death of Saunders WELCH. |
| 1785 |  | London and Westminster Police Bill is introduced. Three Commissioners and 225 paid men (9 Superintendents). |
| 1786 |  | 'Public Hue and Cry' (later the 'Police Gazette') is started by Sampson WRIGHT. It replaced "The Weekly Pursuit" Police force established in Dublin. |
| 1787 |  | Botany Bay is made a convict settlement. |
| 1788 |  | Sir Robert PEEL is born. |
| 1792 |  | Middlesex and Surrey Justices Act is established along with 7 London Police Courts, each with 3 magistrates and 6 constables (at 12 shillings per week). The offices are at Hatton Garden, Worship Street, Whitechapel, Shadwell, Southwark, Queen Street and Great Marlborough Street. Stipendiary Magistrates are created. |
| 1793 | | Committee on Nightly Watch in the Metropolis is started. |
| 1794 |  | John Toms is convicted on the evidence of wadding from a flintlock pistol matching a torn ballad sheet in his possession. |
| 1796 |  | Dr Patrick COLQUHOUN's 'Treatise on Police of the Metropolis' is published. |
| 1798 |  | Establishment of a Marine Police for the Thames by Dr Patrick COLQUHOUN. |
| 1800 |  | Robert PEEL is Knighted, a title that is later to be inherited by his son, Sir Robert PEEL |
| 1804 |  | It is believed that in this year there were 2,044 parish constables in the Metropolis, including the City of London, and it was divided into six classes: 1) Unpaid parish constable elected annually in accordance with ancient custom. 2) Substitute constables (stipendiary ex-army officers) appointed by the justices. 3) Special Constables appointed for specific duty. 4) Salaried constables of the nine magisterial offices of the Metropolis. 5) Thames Police surveyor and subordinate constables. 6) Bow Street Constables and Patrols. |
| 1805 | | Horse Patrol re-established and extended to patrol main roads by Sir Richard Ford (died 1906) . |
| 1809 |  | New Covent Garden Theatre opened. Rioting over price increases. |
| 1811 |  | Dec: Ratcliffe Highway murders in Stepney. |
| 1812 |  | Capital Punishment was abolished for soldiers begging without permission of their Commanding Officer or a Magistrate. Select Committee on Police was established. Robert Peel becomes Chief Secretary for Ireland until 1818. May 11th: Prime Minister, Mr Spencer PERCIVAL, murdered by John BELLINGHAM. |
| 1813 |  | REED resigned from Bow Street. Succeeded by Sir Nathaniel CONANT. |
| 1814 |  | Peace Preservation Act (Irish Police). |
| 1815 |  | Battle of Waterloo. Boy of 12 hanged for stealing a handkerchief. |
| 1816 |  | Parliamentary Committee on Police. Pillory abolished for all offences except perjury. George VAUGHAN, thief-taker, executed. |
| 1817 |  | VIDOCQ formed Brigade de Surete in Paris. The last person, Jeremiah BRANDRETH from Derby, was hanged, drawn and quartered. Flogging in public was abolished. |
| 1818 |  | Trial by Battle claimed by Abraham THORNTON. |
| 1820 |  | Sir Nathaniel CONANT, the Chief Magistrate retired. He is succeeded by Sir Robert BAKER. Cato Street Conspiracy. Disturbances after return of Queen Caroline to country. |
| 1821 |  | Patrols are re-organised by Lord SIDMOUTH. Foot Patrols in Central London and dismounted foot patrols in the outer area. Riots in the passing of Queen Caroline’s funeral procession through the City. The disorder, in which two men apparently shot by Life Guards, leads to an identification parade of soldiers in their uniforms. Sir Richard BIRNIE appointed Chief Magistrate. |
| 1822 |  | Sir Robert PEEL became Home Secretary. |
| 1823 |  | Professor Purkenje in Silesia first suggests a fingerprint classification system. |
| 1824 |  | The Vagrancy Act was passed. |
| 1826 |  | Pay of Bow Street Runners increased 6 pence per night for every 7 years’ service. |
| 1827 |  | Last coiner drawn to scaffold on sledge (Edward LOWE). Stocks abolished and treadwheel introduced. |
| 1828 |  | Parliamentary Committee on Police. Population of London 1,349,000. “The Police Gazette” published, replaced the “Hue and Cry”. |
