Manchester Market Police was a police force in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

responsible for policing markets owned by

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

, the principal market of which was

Smithfield Market Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly Wards of the City of London, ward of the City of London, England. Smithfield is home to a number of City in ...

History

There had previously been a police force responsible for policing the Market, from the 1860s to c.1900. In 1962,

Manchester Corporation Manchester City Council is the local authority for the city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropol ...

re-formed the force with 20 constables, under Chief Inspector Hargreaves (previously a sergeant with the

Manchester City Police The Manchester City Police (also known as the Metropolitan Manchester City Police and from 1842 to 1853 the Manchester Borough Police) was, from the early 19th century until 1968, the territorial police force of the city of Manchester, in norther ...

), and it started operations on 29 January 1962. The force took anyone arrested to the City Police station at Newton Street (now the

Greater Manchester Police Museum The Greater Manchester Police Museum is a former police station converted into a museum and archives detailing the history of policing in Greater Manchester, England. It was home to Manchester City Police and then its successors Manchester and ...

). In 1973/4 the market moved to new premises at the

New Smithfield Market New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

Openshaw Openshaw is a suburb of Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, about three miles east of the Manchester city centre. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Lancashire, Openshaw was incorporated into the city of Manchester in 1890. ...

. It is unclear whether members of the force were ever attested as constables, but in 1996 they were "peace officers" with powers to enforce the markets bye-laws made under the Manchester Markets Act 1846. They wore a standard police uniform, with green and white

sillitoe tartan Sillitoe tartan is a distinctive chequered pattern, usually black-and-white or blue-and-white, which was originally associated with the Police Scotland, police in Scotland. It later gained widespread use in the rest of the United Kingdom and ov ...

rather than dark blue or black, and shoulder badges that read "Market Police". Hannon refers to the "Manchester Markets Act 1879", but no act by this name was passed in 1879. There was a Manchester Market Act in 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c.ccxix)

References

{{UK private and military police forces Defunct market police forces of the United Kingdom Manchester City Council History of Manchester

History

See also

References