Edinburgh City Police Gallery 2

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Superintendent Matthew Peacock - "D" Division circa 1922

Inspectors Cunningham & Rose Superintendent W B R Morren Inspector Campbell 'A' Division 1929 (Note the change to a more modern style of tunic)

Superintendent W B R Morren 'A' Division in 1929 (He later became Chief Constable when Roderick Ross retired)

Four Section Sergeants 'A' Division Ceremonial Uniform 1929

Edinburgh City Police PC & PS Ceremonial Helmet to around 1932

A thought on the demise of the Edinburgh City Police 'ceremonial' uniform in 1936 in a letter to 'The Scotsman' in 1937.

Six Station House Keepers (Sergeants) 'A' Division 1929 (Note: William Sutherland,2nd from left, was a Pipe-Major of the Pipe Band)

Superintendent, 3 Inspectors and 2 Detective Inspectors 'B' Division in 1922

Four Section Sergeants 'B' Division in 1922

Inspector Campbell Superintendent Calder Inspector Roy 'C' Division Edinburgh City Police in 1922 (Note the crown collar badges on the Supt's frock coat) ('The DHQ of 'C' Division at this time was Braid Place. It became 'A' Division in 1933)

Representative group of 'C' Division in 1922

Superintendent & 3 Inspectors 'D' Division in 1921 (This was 'The West End' which only became 'C' in 1933 when 'D' became Leith)

Five Section Sergeants & two Detective Constables 'D' Division in 1921

Standing, left to right, PC 134 A David Coghill, PC 118 A William G. Campbell, (Seated), PC 94 A George Steven, Edinburgh City Police.

This is a picture of the 13 accused men leaving the High Court in Edinburgh in 1922 after being found Not Guilty (6) and Not Proven(7) of taking part in the attempted ambush of a prison van carrying an IRA prisoner during which a City of Glasgow Police officer was murdered.

(Notes on the uniforms:

Most of the Constables are "C" Division, Edinburgh City Police which then covered the 'Southside'. In that time, "A" Division covered Parliament Square.

It is an Inspector to the left of the foreground and a Sergeant standing in front of the Constable with the ball-top helmet.

Only Lieutenants and Inspectors in Edinburgh City Police wore ball-top helmets (Ceremonial only) so the Constable is probably a Leith Burgh Police officer, by then, "E" Division Edinburgh City Police, still wearing his old helmet?)

Edinburgh City Police

PC John Bremner 'C' Division

This is a watch fob “Presented to Constable John Bremner on his retirement from the Edinburgh City Police – May 1891.”

It was quite common for colleagues to have a collection and make a presentation on the occasion of retirement and pocket watches and fobs were extremely common presents.

John Bremner was born in the Parish of Kilmuir in the County of Ross around 1827.

He was an Agricultural Labourer before joining Edinburgh City Police on 15 October 1852 when he was 25. He had married the year before to Isabella Malcolm of Pultneytown in Caithness.

In the Census of 1861, he and Isabella were living at 9 Hercules Street with their daughter Catherine, (9) and their son John, (9 months). John Bremner was a Police Constable.

Hercules Street no longer exists but it ran between St Leonard’s Hill and Dumbiedykes Road not far from what is now the Deaconess Hospital but then was the Pleasance Police Station of 'C' Division.

Isabella died in 1870 and John Bremner brought up the two children on his own.

By the Census of 1871, the family were living at 48 St Leonards Hill, Edinburgh. By 1881, they were living at 36 St Leonards Hill.

In the Census of 1891, the year he retired, John Bremner was 63, still a Police Constable but living with his son John and his wife Elizabeth at their home at 1 Buccluech Terrace, a few hundred yards from Braid Place Police Station, 'C' Division Headquarters at that time.

John Bremner was still with his son and his family in 1901 but they were now living at 2 Buccluech Terrace.

It was in that address that on 19 January, 1909, ‘John Bremner, Retired Police Constable, 81 years old, died. His son John registered the death the next day.

The inscription on the watch fob presented to Constable John Bremner of Edinburgh City Police on his retirement in May 1891

Edinburgh City Police PC & PS Beat Duty Helmet to around 1932

Beat Duty helmet belonging to PS 29 A John Oliphant in 2017

PS 29 A John Oliphant wearing the helmet in 1922 in East Market Street below Jeffrey Street.

Label inside the above helmet showing 'PS 29 A J. Oliphant, Edinburgh City'.

Close-up of helmet plate showing moth damage to cloth.

Edinburgh City Police PC & PS Beat Duty Helmet to around 1952

Edinburgh City Police PC & PS Beat Duty Helmet to around 1952

Edinburgh City Police Keys Boxes

Edinburgh City Police Keys Box

Edinburgh City Police used Keys Boxes in Police Stations from late Victorian times to the early 20^th Century.

Businesses would pay one guinea per year to deposit their keys overnight for safekeeping and were given a brass token as a receipt. The brass tag number on the keys matched that of the receipt. Some examples of brass tags can be seen below.

There would have been several such boxes in each police station, presumably in the custody of the Station House Keeper (Sergeant). I only know of the existence of 8 such boxes.

The box measures approximately 9" long, 2.5" high and 3" deep and is made of wood.

The brass tags are approximately 1.5" across.