Talk:Bow Street Runners

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Image[edit]

I'm inclined to substitute this picture of the actual Bow Street Office of the time, to replace the current picture of another building, from ninety years later, on the other side of the street. --Old Moonraker (talk) 21:51, 16 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Done--Old Moonraker (talk) 07:55, 19 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The First Pigs[edit]

Perhaps it should be mentioned in the article that the earliest print source cited by the OED for the term "pig" used to refer to officers of the law refers directly to the Bow Street Runners. 24.47.154.230 (talk) 19:49, 26 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

University project[edit]

Hi. I'm an Italian university student and for my course of History of English Culture my teacher assigned me this page to improve as part of my exam. At the moment my references are:

  • Tim Hitchcock & Robert Shoemaker, Tales from the Hanging Court 2006
  • J.M.Beattie, The First English Detectives : The Bow Street Runners and the Policing of London, 1750-1840 2012
  • www.oldbaileyonline.org

Any advice will be very appreciated. Thank you. Elisa.danesin (talk) 08:09, 19 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Mainly I will expand the History section by adding some more detail and maybe organize the Fiction section in undersections.
Basically, I will add 4 undersections to the History section, one about the policing and law enforcement system prior to the Bow Street Runners, one about the early years of Henry Fielding, one about the John Fielding years and one about the last years of the Runners. In the Fiction section I think I will put together all the book references as well as the television, cinema and radio ones in different undersections. --Elisa.danesin (talk) 15:59, 25 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]


Hi ELisa, I am Giulia, a peer student from the History of English Culture course. I just wanted to give you a few suggestions as required by the weekly continuous assessment task. I think the article offers overall a great deal of information on the chosen theme. What I would like to suggest is: - In the first paragraph about bow street runners, maybe add just a few lines to explain how they did actually work. I mean, if as it is stated, they worked out of Henry Fielding’s court, how did their job was carried out ? were they directly employed by local people ? Or did local people first call a magistrate who then would send one of the runners to catch the thief? In my opinion this subject is not very clear, and I think maybe just a few lines would help clarify the matter.

- Regarding the paragraph talkin about Henry Fielding, maybe just add a few lines regarding the reasons why citizens were not so willing to prosecute criminals. One would expect that people would go to all extents in order to catch a thief and have him/her get what he/she deserves, so maybe add a few lines explaining why it was not so.

That's all. Hope my suggestions will be useful !! See you soon ! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Giulia Odo (talk • contribs) 10:41, 22 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the great suggestion! I'll do my best. --Elisa.danesin (talk) 14:30, 22 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent assignment. I'm a professor, and I've often thought of doing something with Wikipedia. Not only do you and Giulia learn, Elisa, but you benefit all future students. Thanks for doing this. Best regards to your professor. Profhum (talk) 07:44, 24 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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Original Research[edit]

I have deleted the lists of fictional and other works for the following reasons:

  1. Throughout they were without references and so count as original research WP:NOR
  2. The article is about the actual institution; a mere list of trivia does not add to information about the topic. See WP:MISC, particularly "Avoid creating lists of miscellaneous information"; also MOS:CULTURALREFS lower down the page. "The consensus is very clear that a secondary source is required in almost all cases." Sweetpool50 (talk) 05:48, 1 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Official name?[edit]

The article states that "Bow Street Runners" was a nickname, which the members disliked. So ... what did they call themselves?

I note that mention is made of "Thief-Takers", although only, it would seem, as precursors of the BSR (and more akin to private detectives/bounty hunters than police).

Grant | Talk 13:50, 28 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]


Yh 2A00:23C8:CC88:5D01:45AA:B1F9:E527:6EF6 (talk) 18:07, 18 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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