At the beginning of the period the
area was policed mainly by parish constables.
None of these men were paid or had any training. They had to do their
duties as well as their own jobs, so you can imagine that not many people
wanted to be a constable. They served for one year without
pay, and often were not allowed to finish their duties by the
courts unless they could find someone
else to take over.
At the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign the government passed an Act
to allow counties like Breconshire to set up a County
Constabulary or police force.
Montgomeryshire set up such a force soon after (see
the pages on Constable
Jones' journal) but Breconshire did not.
Instead the County appointed a number of paid Superintendent
Constables to oversee the local parish constables and give
them support.
In autumn 1850 orders were made by
the magistrates for giving these Superintendent Constables a proper uniform.
The picture (right) shows what they may have
looked like.
