[PEEL ROBERT]: (1788-1850) British Prime Minister 1834-35 & 1841-46. ROWAN CHARLES (c.1782-1852) British Lieutenant Colonel who served at the Battle of Waterloo. Rowan was joint first Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London Metropolitan Police (which had been established by Peel in 1829 when serving as Home Secretary) from 1829-50. A.L.S., C Rowan, two pages, 8vo, n.p., 16th July 1833, to Robert Peel ('My dear Sir'). Rowan states that he understands that Peel has been 'appointed on the Committee of the House of Commons for the investigation of the conduct of the Police on the occasion of the meeting at Coldbathfields' and adds that he returns a note (no longer present) in which you were so kind as to express a favourable opinion upon that subject upon a partial explanation of the case'. With blank integral leaf. Letters relating to Peel and the Police are surprisingly scarce. VG

The early years of the London Metropolitan Police were not easy ones, as the formation of the force had faced major opposition from the Whigs and the first major clash between political radicals and the police occurred on the 13th May 1833, a little over two months before the present letter, at the Calthorpe Estate, Cold Bath Fields, Clerkenwell. The trouble and violence that ensued at the Public Meeting being held by the National Union of the Working Classes resulted in the death of one police constable, Robert Culley, and the stabbing of two others. The Times newspaper reported the following of the events at the time, 'The police furiously attacked the multitude with their staves, felling every person indiscriminately before them; even the females did not escape the blows from their batons - men and boys were lying in every direction weltering in their blood and calling for mercy'.