Founded in 1872 by ten officers from "A" Division (Whitehall), the Minstrels consisted of police officers who could sing or play a musical instrument. They performed at police stations to entertain the officers, and also gave public concerts in aid of police charities. The Minstrels wore evening dress and blackfacemakeup, in the manner of the typical minstrel shows of the period, and sang negro spirituals and popular ballads and songs, as well as playing instrumentals. They also performed comedy sketches, originally written for them by the popular music hall artiste and pantomime dameClarkson 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 Sergeants. CommissionersSir William Horwood and Lord Byng 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 discovered that ticket sales were entirely dependent on this method of selling and felt that this was a form of blackmail. In 1932, he ordered that the door-to-door selling should cease. The Minstrels attempted to continue by selling tickets from theatrebox offices and police stations, but were disbanded the following year.
The most prominent member of the Minstrels was Sir James Olive, the first Deputy Commissioner, who had been a founder member in 1872 and later became the group's president.
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 linksedit
Ralph Wilcocks and the Police Minstrels
December 18, 2023
police, minstrels, this, article, includes, list, references, related, reading, external, links, sources, remain, unclear, because, lacks, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, july, 2010, learn, when, . This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations July 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Police Minstrels was a concert party consisting of members of the London Metropolitan Police Founded in 1872 by ten officers from A Division Whitehall the Minstrels consisted of police officers who could sing or play a musical instrument They performed at police stations to entertain the officers and also gave public concerts in aid of police charities The Minstrels wore evening dress and blackface makeup in the manner of the typical minstrel shows of the period and sang negro spirituals and popular ballads and songs as well as playing instrumentals They also performed comedy sketches originally written for them by the popular music hall artiste and pantomime dame 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 Sergeants Commissioners Sir William Horwood and Lord Byng 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 discovered that ticket sales were entirely dependent on this method of selling and felt that this was a form of blackmail In 1932 he ordered that the door to door selling should cease The Minstrels attempted to continue by selling tickets from theatre box offices 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 the first Deputy Commissioner who had been a founder member in 1872 and later became the group s president References editThe Times Digital Archive Martin Fido amp 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 245External links editRalph Wilcocks and the Police Minstrels Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Police Minstrels amp oldid 1167950918, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
