THIS was the Keighley Police Force in 1865, for a population increasing from 21,859 in 1861 to 28,059 in 1871.

Our early local authority, the Keighley Improvement Commissioners, had hired two night-watchmen with basic police duties back in 1828, but it was 1842 before the posts became permanent, increasing to four in 1848.

Provided with "coats, caps, oil, and lamps", they patrolled the streets, paying special attention to inns and beer shops – though the threat of a forty-shilling fine on alehouse-keepers "harbouring" them during their hours of duty suggests that they themselves were not always above suspicion!

The Keighley Local Board of Health elected in 1855 attempted a more regulated force, with the former chief watchman promoted to Superintendent of Police and issued with ideal instructions: "He must ascertain, as far as possible, that all his men are physically fit for their work, that they are clean and neat in their persons, that they are strictly sober, that they are cool and cautious, that they are firm – yet good-tempered, courteous and obliging – that they are creditably intelligent and virtuous".

However, the inauguration of the West Riding Constabulary in 1857 transferred police duties into the hands of a regular force.