Community…..Law and Order

Over the centuries, maintaining law and order was largely the responsibility of the manors and the parish. It was not until the creation of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary in 1851 that controlling and investigating crime became a county matter.

The local justices sitting in Quarter Sessions from the 14th Century and also regular Petty Sessions from 1731 provided a local administrative and criminal justice system. If you were victim of crime it might well be you, who took your complaint to the Justices and prosecuted the perpetrator. Similarly, local civil matters would be dealt with in like manner.

There was a system of Parish Constables in each parish, usually one or perhaps two in a parish the size of Steeple. They were elected each year by the Vestry and generally it was not a popular job owing the onerous and varied duties. They dealt with some petty crime, drunkenness for example, but were not police constables. They were akin to location or business managers overseeing the everyday running of the parish.

A variety of records and reports will be added here, covering both the policing of crime and reports of notable or interesting crimes.

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