Copy the page URI to the clipboard
Dove, Henry Mervyn
(1993).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.0000fdac
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to determine the role of the Police and other law enforcement agencies in their application of the law relating to popular disturbances in Central Scotland from 1850-1914. This selected geographical area contained the Scottish coalfields and most of Scotland's manufacturing output. It was, and still is the industrial heart of the country and was the scene of most of the major disturbances of the period.
The period dates from the aftermath of Chartism to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Much work has been done on Scottish disturbances both before 1850 and after 1914 but little in the period itself. This is surprising because it witnessed considerable political, social and economic change throughout the United Kingdom. This thesis is thus designed to contribute towards bridging the gap.
Part I begins with an outline of Scottish law governing the actions of the law enforcement agencies and is followed by an examination of each agency in the context of dealing with popular disturbances. Parts II and III deal with the application of the law in terms of specific examples of industrial and sectarian incidents which either led to outbreaks. of violence or required a deployment of resources to prevent this happening.
Available primary sources deal mainly with industrial strikes and sectarian clashes between Protestants and Catholics, many of whom were of Irish descent. Miners' strikes were the principal cause of industrial disturbances. Scottish secondary sources on this subject during the period of this thesis are comparatively rare, and where relevant, English sources have been drawn on to supplement them.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
