Handbook of Birmingham / Prepared for the Members of the British Association, 1886

PREPARED FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 1886.
BIRMINGHAM: Hall and English, Printers, &c., High Street. 1886.


(The figures show the pages of this work where the articles appear.)


BY G.J. JOHNSON.
This Handbook, being prepared for the use of the members of the British Association, at their meeting in Birmingham, in 1886, it is deemed desirable to preface it by a very brief sketch of the progress of the town since the first meeting here of the Association in 1839, a period only three years short of half a century.
The same day on which the Association met, the Royal assent was given to an Act (2 and 3 Vic., c. 88), hurriedly passed, to appoint a Commissioner of Police in the Borough for two years, and to authorise an advance of £10,000, for the purpose of organizing and paying a police force.
The validity of the charter of incorporation was ultimately settled by a statutory confirmation (5 and 6 Vic., c. III), which received the royal assent on the 12th of August, 1842. As a consequence, the control of the police was transferred to the Watch Committee of the Corporation. At the time of the transfer the strength of the force was 300 men, and the population of the borough 183,000. The population is now about 427,000, and the police force is 550 in number, and is both efficient and adequate.