julie Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 (edited) Hi all I just started The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher ,in which a murder was committed. I won't give much away of the story in case others have yet to read it . I have found some interesting points so far,based on how the case was originally handled, who took part in the search, and how class levels of people seemed to play a role in the investigation. I may drop other questions in here as they present themselves,but below is the first one : I'm at the beginning ,when the missing child was first being looked for ,when they are rounding up people to help with the search. It has so far mentioned 2 guys who were called Parish Constables . A page or two before ,it states that it was an older system put in place that was being phased out. I am wondering how these guys were chosen ? It seems to say they were picked to serve a term of one year, I think ,so maybe it's a little like jury duty over here,only of a more involved nature,being part of the original people who are called in to help when a crime is committed. I'm just wondering how they were chosen ,if they were given any education after being chosen ,etc ? And what level of importance they had in an investigation ? The 2 mentioned so far ,one is a baker and one a butcher ,so I'm wondering if you had to be of a certain "class" of people or did everyone have to take turns ? Thanks - Edited February 12, 2012 by julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladd Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 These links might help http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1842/apr/26/parish-constables http://www.kent-police-museum.co.uk/core_pages/pasttimes_early_days_pt9.shtml http://vcp.e2bn.org/justice/page11377-the-development-of-a-police-force.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Vladd Thank you for the links . That helps explain more about the constables . It's so surprising how differently crimes are investigated now compared to back in the 1800's . This crime happened in a huge manor house type place with many servants. When the crime was committed, they originally didn't look at the family at all as possibly guilty,they only looked at the servants. It even mentions in the book that there was one rule for the rich and one for the rest . I've been taking some notes while reading and will come in and post them when I get the chance . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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