Bath City Council: Records relating to the work of the Watch Committee

This sub-fonds includes a small amount of records relating to Bath City Council's police, fire and ambulance services, and related work of the Watch Committee.

Bath City Police Force was set up in 1836 following the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, which required boroughs to organise and maintain a police force. It replaced the three parish-based police forces which had covered the City, Walcot and Bathwick until this date, along with the night-watch. It consisted initially of 132 officers, and was organised and administered by the City Watch Committee from 1836 to 1966. In 1966, it was amalgamated with Somerset Constabulary to form the Somerset and Bath Constabulary, which came into being on 1 January 1967, and was no longer under the control of Bath City Council. At this point, almost all of the records of the Police Force were transferred to the newly-formed force. The records were later deposited in the Record office, together with post-1966 records, and were catalogued at 0661, as a private deposit from the Avon and Somerset Constabulary. A very small amount of early Bath City police records remained with the Council, and these have been included in the records catalogued in this sub-fonds.

As well as the Police Force, the Watch committee supervised the Bath Fire and Ambulance Service, 1928-1973 (except for a short period during the Second World War). Responsibility for fighting fires in Bath passed from the local insurance offices to a combined force of Police and volunteers in 1891. The Corporation of Bath assumed control in 1909. From 1941 to 1948 the Fire Brigade was part of the National Fire Service (Area 17). In 1974, following the re-organisation of local government the force became part of the County of Avon Fire Brigade, and no longer under Bath City control.

The Watch Committee had a range of other responsibilities related to public safety, such as implementation of the Explosives and Poisons Acts and road safety.

Records in this sub-fonds include a limited amount of material relating to:

-Watch committee papers, including police and fire services, 1830s-c.1900
-Explosives Acts, 1870s-1910
-General filing relating to the work of the Watch Committee, including wartime records, 1930s-1960s
-General filing relating to Public Safety, including accidents, Poisons Act, highways, 1960s - 1970s
-Bath Police Force regulations, 1853-1880
-Papers relating to the new Police Station at Orange Grove, 1860s
-Fire Brigade log books, 4 vols., 1907-1931 (former reference 0578)
-Bath City Fire Brigade and Ambulance Service, c.1928-1973 (former reference 0282)
-Fire Brigade Annual Reports, 1930s-70s

These records have not yet been catalogued in detail. Please contact the Record Office for more information.

Related Records
Minutes of the Watch Committee and sub-committees, 1836-1966