Embedded Files
William Stewart was a Police Constable in Edinburgh both before and after his service in the Black Watch during the Boer War. This is a notebook that he carried on his rounds. There is a small pencil with the book.
The cover label reads:
B Division
P.C. 270 William Stewart
Issued 19th June 1907
Returned [blank]
The last entry is on the last page and is dated 4 June 1910. This was not long before William emigrated to Australia, ahead of his family. I wonder why this notebook was kept and not returned as would seem to have been the expectation.
There are 158 numbered pages in the notebook. Each entry is dated and in most cases a time is noted. The entries reveal the life of a beat Bobby in Edinburgh. Lost property, petty thefts, lights left on, windows open and one or two traffic incidents. There seems to be quite a few notes about workmen connecting hoses to fire hydrants, which apparently they needed a permit to do.
The image on the right shows page 12 of the notebook, which describes a light left on and a skylight left open on 16 August 1907.
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