Did You Know? Research Snippets by Chris Longmuir
When I researched my new novel The Death Game which is set in 1919 Dundee I came across some
interesting facts. The main character of my novel is the first policewoman in
Dundee, and in the process of researching the origins of women police I came
across many fascinating details.
Did you know?
1 – The first women’s police service was formed by the
suffragette organisations in 1914 when they abandoned their militant actions on
the commencement of the First World War.
2 – There were two women’s police services in London at this
time. The first of these was the Women’s Police Volunteers which later became
the Women’s Police Service. The second service was the Voluntary Women Patrols.
3 – Between 1914 to 1918 the women’s police service was
voluntary, although they worked closely with the official police forces.
4 – In 1918 the Commissioner of the Police, Sir Nevil Macready,
appointed one of the voluntary services as an official women’s police force.
Interestingly, he chose the Voluntary Women Patrols rather than the Women’s Police
Service to be the official body. The Women’s Police Service were forced to
change their name to the Women’s Auxiliary Service.
5 – The uniforms for the women’s police force were made by
Harrods.
6 – The women police were supplied with boots which were land
army rejects because the leather was too hard.
7 – The women’s training included jujitsu.
8 – The Commandant of the Women’s Police Volunteers was an
antiwhite slavery campaigner, Margaret Damer Dawson. The deputy was Nina Boyle
a militant suffragette.
9 – Many of the early policewomen were militant
suffragettes and had been imprisoned several times.
10 – the first policewoman in Dundee, Mrs Jean Forsyth
Thompson, was employed between 1918 to 1921. There is very little information
in Dundee police records about this woman.
These early policewomen were interesting characters. They
were pioneers in an all-male police force. They suffered ridicule and rejection
but continued to provide a service. However, at the end of the First World War,
the police authorities tried to disband the women’s police service, but were
unsuccessful.
My book The Death Game was inspired by Dundee’s first
policewoman. The main character, Kirsty Campbell, in no way resembles Mrs
Thompson. However, it was this early policewoman who gave me the idea for the
story.
If you want to buy The Death Game, you’ll find it here;
But if you want to borrow it, or sneak a peek at someone
else’s copy, I don’t mind. I just want you to enjoy it. Oh, and before I go, if
you do like it and want to do me a favour, a wee review on Amazon would be
greatly appreciated. It doesn’t have to be much, just a couple of lines to say
why you liked it, and I’ll be happy.
Chris Longmuir
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