Wells City Police

Wells City Police was the police force responsible for policing the city of Wells in England between 1836 and 1856.[1][2]

Wells was one of the original 178 boroughs named in the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 which required boroughs to appoint a watch committee with a duty to appoint sufficient numbers of constables. As a result, Wells City Police came into existence on 1 February 1836 with four constables to patrol the city.[2] A government report in 1851 outlined that the force still only had four constables to police the city at an annual cost of £119, 8 shillings and 8 pence.[3]

The county in which Wells is situated, Somerset, had no modern police force until 1 September 1856 when Somerset Constabulary was formed. Wells City Police was consolidated into the new Somerset Constabulary within a matter of weeks on 14 October 1856.[4]

Today, Wells is policed by the successor of Somerset Constabulary, Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

See also

References
  1. "Wells & Mendip Museum and Visitor Information Service : Newsletter" (PDF). Mendiphillsaonb.org.uk. 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  2. "Policing and Police Reform in a Rural County ; Somerset c.1830-1856" (PDF). Lra.le.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  3. Commons, Great Britain Parliament House of (11 June 2018). "Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons". Ordered to be printed – via Google Books.
  4. Clark, Peter (2015). Police Reference: England & Wales. United States of America: Amazon. pp. E-1379. ISBN 978-0-9858978-0-2.


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