{{No footnotes, date=July 2010 The Police Minstrels was a concert party consisting of members of the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

. Founded in 1872 by ten officers from "A"

Division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

(

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

), the Minstrels consisted of police officers who could sing or play a musical instrument. They performed at

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, al ...

s to entertain the officers, and also gave public

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

s in aid of police charities. The Minstrels wore evening dress and

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

makeup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, in the manner of the typical

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...

s of the period, and sang

negro spiritual Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with Black Americans, which merged sub-Saharan African cultural heritage with the e ...

s and popular

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s and songs, as well as playing instrumentals. They also performed comedy sketches, originally written for them by the popular

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

artiste and

pantomime dame A pantomime dame is a traditional role in British pantomime. It is part of the theatrical tradition of ''travesti'' portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. Dame characters are often played either in an extremely camp style, or else ...

Clarkson Rose. The Minstrels were very popular - in the 1928/29 season alone, they gave about 140 performances. Seats for the public concerts were sold door-to-door by uniformed

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Commissioners A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Sir William Horwood and

Lord Byng Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, (11 September 1862 – 6 June 1935) was a British Army officer who served as Governor General of Canada, the 12th since the Canadian Confederation. Known to friends as "Bung ...

both objected to this, as did the Police Federation, claiming that people may feel intimidated into buying tickets and that it detracted from the dignity of the rank. The Minstrels survived by pointing to the amounts of money they raised for charity. However,

Lord Trenchard Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the "Father of the ...

discovered that ticket sales were entirely dependent on this method of selling and felt that this was a form of

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

. In 1932, he ordered that the door-to-door selling should cease. The Minstrels attempted to continue by selling tickets from

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

s and police stations, but were disbanded the following year. The Minstrels raised a total of £250,000 for the Metropolitan and City Police Orphanage, the Metropolitan and City Police Convalescent Home Fund, and the Widows' and Relief Funds. Trenchard set up the Commissioner's Fund to replace this vital source of income for these police charities. The most prominent member of the Minstrels was Sir

James Olive Sir James William Olive KBE (1856 – 14 January 1942) was Assistant Commissioner "A" of the London Metropolitan Police from 1920 to 1925. As such, he was in charge of administration and uniformed operations and was the Commissioner's depu ...

, the first Deputy Commissioner, who had been a founder member in 1872 and later became the group's president.

References

* ''The Times'' Digital Archive *Martin Fido & Keith Skinner, ''The Official Encyclopedia of Scotland Yard'' (Virgin Books, London:1999) *Rachel Cowgill, 'On the Beat: The Victorian Policeman as Musician', in Music and Institutions in Nineteenth-Century Britain, ed. Paul Rodmell (Farnham: Ashgate, 2012), 221-245

External links

Ralph Wilcocks and the Police Minstrels
Musical groups established in 1872 History of the Metropolitan Police Blackface minstrel troupes 1872 establishments in England British comedy troupes Anti-black racism in England