Glasgow Police Museum

Last updated
Glasgow Police Museum
Police Museum.jpg
Police Museum, Glasgow
Glasgow Police Museum
Established2002
Location30 Bell Street, Merchant Ciy, Glasgow
Coordinates 55°51′29″N4°14′42″W / 55.8580°N 4.2449°W / 55.8580; -4.2449
TypeLaw enforcement
Visitorsbetween 9000 and 10000 (2019) [1]
DirectorAlastair Dinsmor
Website https://www.policemuseum.org.uk/

The Glasgow Police Museum is an independent museum in the Scottish city of Glasgow. The museum opened in 2002 at the Glasgow Central Police Headquarters, before it was relocated to the Merchant City area of the city in 2009. [2] The museum is dedicated to the history of the City of Glasgow Police, the United Kingdom's first modern-style municipal police force. [3] It also displays a collection of over 2000 international police insignia and uniforms. [2]

Contents

History

The museum as created by the Glasgow Police Heritage Society, a group of retired police officers from the former City of Glasgow Police. [4] The Society had helped establish the Strathclyde Police Museum, but as this collection was not open to the public, it decided to open a museum that was free for the public in 2002 so that it could share the history of the city and country's first police force. In 2008, after the closing of the Central Police office where the musem was housed, the museum was moved to a repurposed office building on Bell Street. [2]

Collection

The Glasgow Police Historical Exhibition

The museum describes the city's history with crime and the creation of the City of Glasgow Police in 1800 following the Glasgow Police Act, until it was merged into the Strathclyde Police in 1975. This history is shared via various artifacts that detail the people and events that contributed to the creation and development of the police force, such as official government documentation, newspaper articles, images, photographs and fictional texts, as well as police related objects such as uniforms, weapons and other objects. [5]

The International Police Exhibition

The museum also contains a large collection of over 2000 items of police insignia, headgear and uniform from around the world. [6] Part of this collection was donated to the museum by one of its curators, Alastair Dinsmor, who is currently the chairman of the Glasgow Police Heritage Society. [2] His personal collection contains over 6400 items every country in the world, for which he was made an M.B.E. by Queen Elizabeth II in 2016 for his services to Police Heritage. [7] Other elements in the collection were gifted to the museum by visitors, or are on loan from other museums. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Strathclyde</span> University in Glasgow, Scotland

The University of Strathclyde is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first technological university in the United Kingdom. Taking its name from the historic Kingdom of Strathclyde, its combined enrollment of 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students ranks it Scotland's third-largest university, drawn with its staff from over 100 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strathclyde</span> Former local government region of Scotland

Strathclyde was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The Strathclyde region had 19 districts. The region was named after the early medieval Kingdom of Strathclyde centred on Govan, but covered a broader geographic area than its namesake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Subway</span> Underground rapid transit line in Glasgow, Scotland

The Glasgow Subway is an underground light metro system in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the third-oldest underground rail transit system in the world after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro. It is also one of the very few railways in the world with a track running gauge of 4 ft. Originally a cable railway, the subway was later electrified, but the double-track circular line was never expanded. The line was originally known as the Glasgow District Subway, and was thus the first mass transit system to be known as a "subway"; it was later renamed Glasgow Subway Railway. In 1936 it was renamed the Glasgow Underground. Despite this rebranding, many Glaswegians continued to refer to the network as "the Subway". In 2003, the name "Subway" was officially readopted by its operator, the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burrell Collection</span> Art collection in the city of Glasgow, Scotland

The Burrell Collection is a museum in Glasgow, Scotland, managed by Glasgow Museums. It houses the art collection of Sir William Burrell and Constance, Lady Burrell. The museum opened in 1983 and reopened on 29 March 2022 following a major refurbishment. It was announced as the winner of the Art Fund Museum of the Year in July 2023. It is the only non-national museum to be the outright winner twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Transport Museum</span> Transport museum in Covent Garden, London

The London Transport Museum (LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the history of it. The majority of the museum's exhibits originated in the collections of London Transport, but, since the creation of Transport for London (TfL) in 2000, the remit of the museum has expanded to cover all aspects of transport in the city and in some instances beyond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Glasgow Police</span> Former police force of Glasgow, Scotland

The City of Glasgow Police or Glasgow City Police was the police covering the city and royal burgh of Glasgow, from 1800 to 1893, and the county of city of Glasgow, from 1893 to 1975. In the 17th century, Scottish cities used to hire watchmen to guard the streets at night, augmenting a force of unpaid citizen constables. On 30 June 1800 the authorities of Glasgow successfully petitioned the British Government to pass the Glasgow Police Act 1800 establishing the City of Glasgow Police. It served Glasgow from 1800 to 1975, when it was amalgamated into Strathclyde Police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of England Museum</span> Bank of England Museum in London, England

The Bank of England Museum, located within the Bank of England in the City of London, is home to a collection of diverse items relating to the history of the Bank and the UK economy from the Bank's foundation in 1694 to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Glasgow history</span>

This article is intended to show a timeline of the history of Glasgow, Scotland, up to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Museum (Prague)</span> Czech museum institution

The National Museum (NM) is a public museum dedicated to natural scientific and historical collections of the Czech Republic, its history, culture and people, among others. The museum was founded in 1818 by Kašpar Maria Šternberg. Historian František Palacký was also strongly involved in the foundation of the museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazi memorabilia</span> Items originated from Nazi Germany

Nazi memorabilia are items produced during the height of Nazism in Germany, particularly the years between 1933 and 1945. Nazi memorabilia includes a variety of objects from the material culture of Nazi Germany, especially those featuring swastikas and other Nazi symbolism and imagery or connected to Nazi propaganda. Examples are military and paramilitary uniforms, insignia, coins and banknotes, medals, flags, daggers, guns, posters, contemporary photos, books, publications, and ephemera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Empire and Commonwealth Museum</span> Former museum in Bristol, England

The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum was a museum in Bristol, England, exploring the history of the British Empire and the effect of British colonial rule on the rest of the world. The museum opened in 2002 and entered voluntary liquidation in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strathclyde Police</span> Law enforcement agency

Strathclyde Police was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, Glasgow City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire between 1975 and 2013. The Police Authority contained members from each of these authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Colquhoun</span> Scottish merchant, statistician, and magistrate (1745–1820)

Patrick Colquhoun was a Scottish merchant, statistician, magistrate, and founder of the first regular preventive police force in England, the Thames River Police. He also served as Lord Provost of Glasgow 1782 to 1784.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galway City Museum</span> Local museum in Ireland

Galway City Museum is a museum in Galway City, County Galway, Ireland. It was founded on 29 July 2006, and is located beside the Spanish Arch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 in Scotland</span>

Events from the year 1999 in Scotland.

The politics of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city by population, are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of Glasgow City Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Police Museum</span> Law enforcement museum in London, England

The Metropolitan Police Museum is the museum, library and archive of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), conserving and curating documents, books, objects and uniforms relating to the organisation's history. Over the course of its existence it has also been known as the Police Museum, Bow Street Museum, the Metropolitan Police Historical Collection and from 2009 to 2022 as the Metropolitan Police Heritage Centre. It and the Crime Museum are both run by a team within Centrally Delivered Support Services, itself part of MO11. It also assists with the care of the Metropolitan Police Historic Vehicle Collection, since 2023 at the same site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryhill Burgh Halls</span> Municipal building in Maryhill, Glasgow

Maryhill Burgh Halls is a local heritage site located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, a few miles North-West of Glasgow city centre. Maryhill Burgh Halls was initially opened in 1878 as a municipal building complex, which served as a police station and fire station until the 1970s. The complex fell into disuse and disrepair especially towards the late 20th century, and plans for its demolishment were proposed. However, as a result of local campaigning, the decision was taken to restore the complex and for it to be used as a community resource. Repairs, selective demolition, restoration, and development work took place between 2008 and 2011. The halls re-opened in April 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum of the Military Police of the state of São Paulo</span> Museum in São Paulo, Brazil

The Museum of the Military Police of the State of São Paulo is the museum responsible for the conservation, study, and exhibition of the material heritage related to the history and memory of the Military Police of the State of São Paulo (PMESP) and the corporations that preceded it. It was founded by Professor Vinício Stein Campos on 11 August 1958, as a historical and pedagogical museum, and has been linked to the Secretariat of Public Security of the State of São Paulo since 1976. It is located in the district of Bom Retiro, in São Paulo's capital, in the former headquarters of the Military Hospital of the Public Forces, a building designed by Ramos de Azevedo in 1896.

Essex Police Museum is a museum in Chelmsford in Essex, England. Established in 1992, the museum has more than 25,000 items in its collection, including objects, documents, paintings, and photographs which bring to life the history of policing in the county of Essex since 1840.

References

  1. 1 2 Campbell, Craig (23 August 2019). "Why Glasgow Police Museum is worth inspecting for insights into the force's beginnings". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mullen, Stacey (30 June 2017). "Glasgow Police Museum is a must for city tourists and Glaswegians". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  3. Bunyard, R. S. (1978). Police, organisation and command. Plymouth: Macdonald and Evans. ISBN   9780712116718 . Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  4. Newlands, Rebecca (27 July 2022). "The office building-turned-museum that houses Glasgow's criminal past". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  5. "Visit the Museum – Glasgow Police Museum" . Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  6. "The Glasgow Police Museum, Glasgow – Museums". www.visitscotland.com. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  7. "Alastair DINSMOR | Order of the British Empire | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2024.