History
The Liberty of St Peter and Peter Prison was formed in 1106, and appointed its own officers (including constables) quite separately from the rest of the city of York. Following the Minster fire in 1829, the Chapter of the cathedral ordered that "'Henceforward a watchman/constable shall be employed to keep watch every night in and about the cathedral", and bemoaned the lack of one previously.
The Liberty was abolished in 1839, as a result of which any constables appointed for the Liberty would have been transferred to the new municipal borough of the city of York, and as the liberty ceased to exist it could no longer appoint constables. It is then that the first record is available of the employment of Thomas Marshall as a watchman, which lasted until 1854 at the salary of forty-one pounds and twelve shillings per year. The title of "Minster Police" was first recorded in 1855, when William Gladin replaced Marshall.
Read more about this topic: York Minster Police
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“At present cats have more purchasing power and influence than the poor of this planet. Accidents of geography and colonial history should no longer determine who gets the fish.”
—Derek Wall (b. 1965)
“The only history is a mere question of one’s struggle inside oneself. But that is the joy of it. One need neither discover Americas nor conquer nations, and yet one has as great a work as Columbus or Alexander, to do.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)