Inside the Mind of a Victorian Policeman

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Devoid of the Domestic: Inside the Mind of a Victorian Policeman “For many early Victorians, policing was a new and low-status occupation. Few men became policeman for positive reasons" (Taylor 49). Construction of the Typical Police Officer Several criteria apply to the Victorian police officer: * Policemen were typically involved in trade and were part of the lower middle class o “In Staffordshire, miners, shoemakers, brickmakers, moulders, puddlers, potters, engine drivers and even a printer joined the force” (Taylor 48). o The occupational background of the police officer, while quite diverse, composed of a large portion of agricultural laborers (48). This is due to industrialization and mechanization of agriculture during the Victorian Era; fewer rural laborers were needed. * Policemen were typically young: “In the Metropolitan Police the mean age of recruits fell to twenty-four in 1850” (Taylor 49). * Policemen were typically single: “Many forces quite explicitly stated in their recuiting campaigns that married men need n...

In this essay, the author

  • Opines that policing was a new and low-status occupation for many early victorians. few men became policemen for positive reasons.
  • Analyzes how the victorian police officer, being single, lacks what is so requisite of victorian society—domestic influence. their occupation takes precedence over the private sphere.
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