Robert Peel became the Tory Home Secretary in 1822. He established the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 set up an organized police force. They became known as 'Peelers' and 'Bobbies' after their founder.
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In the United Kingdom, policemen were referred to as "bobbies" because the force was started by Sir Robert Peeler. As the force was starting to patrol London, when people would ask "who is that person" the respose would be "Bobby's man" and the name "bobby" became synonymous with "policeman".
Incidentally, the term "hooker" came about the same way, from General Hooker's name in the United States' Civil War.
They are named "Bobbies" after Sir Robert Peel who was Home Secretary at the time and was responsible for forming the police force.
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Answer: The English police are indeed frequently referred to as "The Old Bill". The precise origin is uncertain, and I can think of no better source for the 13 different possible origins than the website of the Metropolitan (i.e. London) Police. I've provided the link which you should see below. As an Englishman who is extremely familiar with London, I am not aware of any building in London called "the old bill". Perhaps that contributor was thinking of Big Ben, which is often erroneously believed to be the name of the bell tower above the houses of parliament in Westminster, but is actually the name of the bell in the top of the bell tower. The origin of Bobby comes from the founder of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Robert Peel, Bobby being the shortened form of Robert. At one time they were also known as Peelers, but that fell into disuse, whilst Bobby persisted. Bobby tends to be associated with a "warm and cuddly" view of the traditional uniformed police officer who was seen as the guardian of the people, whilst the "Old Bill" tends to be used more in the sense of a kind of enemy of the criminal fraternity - though has grown to such popular use that it is no longer thought of as a derogatory term - in fact a long running TV police drama is entitled "The Bill" which is a further shortening of the term.
Widespread poverty, unemployment and a lack of education caused increased crime in London. The Victorian officials launched widespread efforts to cut the crime rate but certain behaviors persisted. Working class people, usually young men committed mainly petty theft. Crimes for young women were often â??victimlessâ?? crimes like prostitution. Soliciting, drunken behavior and domestic violence were not treated as crimes since they often were committed in homes and viewed as domestic problems that should be dealt with by the family, not the police. I
The poor Victorians would live on the streets, but if they were found by the bobby's (police) they would get taken to the workhouse where they would have a cruel life, they would try to escape but if they got found escaping they would be put into a shed where everyone can see them. Trapped Forever. This is not entirely true, workhouses were cruel often, but a better alternative than living on the streets. It was mostly families that went into workhouses