Respecting the origin of fire brigades: "In 1774 an Act was passed requiring every Parish to provide itself with one large and one small engine, &c., and everything necessary in case of fire. The first London fire brigade was an Institution entirely independent of the parishes, as indeed also of the Government and of the Corporation of London. It was created and exclusively supported by the Insurance Companies of the Metropolis. At first every Insurance Company had its own fire engine and men to work it, but in 1825 some of them joined, and when the advantage of union was seen most of the others desired to take part in the combination already formed, the result of which was that in 1833 a more extensive organization was made, to which the name of the London Fire Brigade was given. Such was the state of matters until by Act 28 and 29 Vict. cap. xc., July 5th, 1865, the duty of extinguishing fires and protecting life and property in case of fire was declared to be entrusted to the Metropolitan Board of Works within their jurisdiction, and provision was made for the establishment of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. The Act provides for its support from three sources, viz.: 1st, £10,000 Grant from Treasury; 2nd, ½d. in the £ Rate; 3rd, £35 for every £1,000,000 insured in the Metropolis from Insurance Companies, which in the year ending December 31, 1872, realized £16,267. All the Stations are in direct communication by telegraph with the Central Station, so that any required number of engines or men may be summoned to any given spot without delay. In 1872 the cost of maintenance was: Brigade, £67,520; Stations, £8,793; Total, £76,313. All the Dock Companies have engines, and some large private firms."—Popular Cyclopedia, Blackie & Son.
By 1833 all the important Companies combined and the London Fire Brigade was formed, organised and raised to an efficient standard under the management of the late and much lamented Mr. James Braidwood, who met with his death in the act of discharging his duties at the great conflagration which broke out in the afternoon of Saturday, June 22nd 1861, in one of the warehouses on the banks of the river, close to the Surrey side of London Bridge, which in spite of increasing efforts to extinguish it, continued to burn until it destroyed property worth nearly £2,000,000. The destruction of property thus caused by the fiery element is without a parallel in the Metropolis since the great fire of 1666. "Three acres of ground were gradually covered with a mass of fire, glowing and crackling at a white heat like a lake of molten iron. The saltpetre, the tallow, the tar and other combustibles stored in the warehouses ran blazing into the Thames until the very river appeared to be covered with the flames. Ships were burned as well as houses, and the danger to life was almost as great on the river as in the street. The glare of the conflagration was not only visible but strikingly conspicuous 30 miles off."
THE METROPOLITAN POLICE.—The organization of the present effective Police force is due to Sir Robert Peel's bill of 1829. The force is divided into the City Police, confined to the City proper, whose office is in the Old Jury, and the Metropolitan Police, which consists of about 8,200 men, and whose Chief Station is in Scotland Yard.
Metropolitan Police Station, Battersea, V. Sub-Division, Bridge Road. Superintendent, Mr. Digby; Inspectors, Mr. McCrory, Mr. Steggles. Number of men about 70. W. Division New Police Station, Battersea Park Road.
The full force of the Metropolitan Police in 1876 was 10,238.[1]
[1] The Report of the Commissioners of Police for the year 1879 shows that in December the Metropolitan police numbered 10,711, which was an increase of 234 over the previous year. The number of felonies committed during the year was 21,891, for which 11,431 persons were arrested. The loss by thefts was £101,798, of which £22,460 was recovered. The Director of Criminal Investigations reports that photography and engraving have been extensively used in the tracing of criminals, with very satisfactory results.
Board of Works for the Wandsworth District, Battersea Rise, S.W. Arthur Alex. Corsellis, Clerk of the Board.
ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE of the National Society is situated in Lombard Road for the training of young men who are intended to become schoolmasters in schools connected with the Church of England. There are at this time about 80 students. The Rev. Evan Daniel, M.A., Principal; Rev. Edwin Hammonds, Vice-Principal; Mr. George White, Secretary and Tutor; Mr. Arthur Macken, Tutor; M. Alphonso Estoclet, French Master; Mr. E. C. May, Teacher of Music; Mr. W. Taylor, Normal Master; Mr. E. Mills, Organist; Dr. Connor, Medical Attendant.
The College owes its origin to Dr. J. P. Kay-Shuttleworth and Mr. E. C. Tufnell, Assistant Poor-Law Commissioner, who with the view of establishing a Normal School in this country for imparting to young men that due amount of knowledge and training them to those habits of simplicity and earnestness which might render them useful instructors to the poor, travelled to Holland, Prussia, Switzerland, Paris and other places that they might witness the operations of such educational schemes as had been projected by Pestalozzi, De Fellenberg and others interested in promoting the education of the poor. The plan suggested by Dr. Kay-Shuttleworth and Mr. Tufnell met with the hearty and most cordial approval of the Vicar, the Hon. and Rev. R. Eden, who offered them the use of his village schools to carry out their benevolent intentions. In 1840 they selected a commodious manor house near the river Thames, at Battersea. Boys as students were first obtained from the School of Industry at Norwood, who were to be kept in training for three years. Subsequently some young men joined the Institution whose period of training was necessarily limited to one year. In 1843, the Directors, Dr. Kay-Shuttleworth and Mr. Tufnell, who had supported the Institution by their own private means, had it transferred into the hands of the National Society. The Continental modes of instruction which had been adopted, such as Mulhauser's method of writing, Wilhelm's method of singing, Dupuis' method of drawing, etc., were so satisfactory that a grant of £2,200 for the enlargement and improvement of the premises was made to them by the Committee of Council on Education which was transferred to the National Society and without delay disbursed in completing the alterations required. In the early part of 1846 a new class-room was erected. "The Institution is supported by the National Society's special fund for providing schoolmasters for the manufacturing and mining districts. Only young men are received as students, whose term of training is generally two years."
THE VICARAGE HOUSE SCHOOL is also situated here. Principal: Miss Crofts. Fees from half a guinea to a guinea per quarter, according to age and attainments. The only extra subjects are Music and French.