LAW AND DISORDER IN HALESWORTH
Community News December 2012
3,000 YEAR OLD TREASURES COMES HOME
December 2012
LAW AND DISORDER IN HALESWORTH
With the future of policing very much in the news at the moment, you might be interested to learn a bit more about how things have been done in the past.
Did you know there was a time when Halesworth had at least four police officers stationed (and living) in the town? Did you know that for a few brief years, Halesworth had two policing systems operating in the town at the same time? Have you heard of the time when the Riot Act had to be read and troops called out to stop an angry protest march in the town? Do you know which Chief Constable in Suffolk ended up in gaol? Do you know how many different police stations there were in Victorian Halesworth? Can you tell us where all of them were? Or how many of them are still standing?
If you scored poorly in this little quiz, then you might like to brush up your knowledge by calling in on the special exhibition ‘Policing Victorian Halesworth’ which is on at the Halesworth and District Museum in the Railway Station until 15 December. It’s open, free, Tuesdays to Saturdays, between 10.00 and 12.30.
One important focus of the exhibition is a series of exhibits relating to the murder of Police Constable Ebenezer Tye in Chediston Street on 25 November 1862 – exactly 150 years ago. Just 24 years old, Tye had only been stationed in the town 18 months when he was beaten to death while trying to apprehend a burglar. In tribute to him, the Suffolk Police Museum has specially loaned these exhibits, which were carefully preserved after the trial of Tye’s murderer. A century and a half later they are as poignant as ever.
The Museum has usually gone over to its reduced winter hours by now but, for the first time ever and thanks to the willingness of our keen team of volunteers, we are rolling back the winter to mark this anniversary appropriately.
Finally, the Chariman and Trustees of the Museum would like to say a special merry Christmas to all those volunteers and Friends who have made possible one of the most successful years in the history of the Museum, a year in which the number of people visiting the Museum and its exhibitions has nearly trebled! Speaking of which – a very happy Christmas to all of them too!