Writing police history: the police-aided scheme to clothe destitute children

The police benevolent scheme to clothe poor and destitute children was taken up widely across Britain from 1892 to around 1915 and beyond the First World War in some areas. It started in Edinburgh in 1892 and by 1909 had spread to 27 towns and cities across the UK including:

Birmingham, Bolton, Cardiff, Chester, Coventry, Dublin, Dundee, Glasgow, Halifax, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Northampton, Plymouth, Preston, Rochdale, Salford, South Shields, Smethwick, Stockport, Swansea, Wakefield, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton and Worcester. 

As well as demonstrating the social conscience of the police, the schemes also increased police surveillance of the underclass by accessing schools to ensure only children from the deserving poor received tickets to go to the police station to collect clothing, in Edinburgh this was shoes and trousers.

Ensuring only the worthy received clothing involved surveillance spreading out into the community of schools and pawnbrokers, as in Edinburgh the police indelibly marked the clothes to ensure parents didn't pawn them in hard times. The schemes also drew in elites, who were frequent benefactors and often members of the management committee chaired by the Council.

These pictures from the West Midlands Police Museum, show how in 1923 the Birmingham police portrayed the scheme benefited poor children:

Note the picture on the right, how the boy has an upright posture and is making a hand salute. At a time of increased militarisation, this depicted gratitude and respect for authority.