London's early law enforcers remembered

On this day in 1788 Robert Peel was born. Peel would become Prime Minister and for fans/students of nineteenth century British history, he is perhaps best known for repealing the Corn Laws in 1846.

Seventeen years before he made his mark on policing by establishing the Metropolitan Police in the British capital. Policemen were affectionately dubbed 'Peelers' and 'Bobbies' as a mark of respect to the Force's founder.

Prior to the creation of the 'Met' paid officers known as the Bow Street runners patrolled the parish of Bow Street. The Bow Street runners were set up around about 1750 by John Fielding. The success of the policing instigated in the area owed much to the dedication and tenacity of John and his older half-brother Henry.

Henry earned his living as a writer. Indeed, Sir Walter Scott went as far to call him 'the father of the English novel'. His best known novels are Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones, and Amelia.

John was blinded in his late teens. In spite of this handicap, he was appointed a magistrate. Initially, the Bow Street Runners wore plain clothes, but John - who was knighted in 1761 - instigated a switch to a formal uniform consisting of a blue coat and trousers and boots. He earned the nickname of the 'Blind Beak' on account of his ability to identify an estimated 3,000 criminals by their voices alone.

Visitors to London can hear more about the Fielding brothers with the Museums, Galleries & Performing Arts audio tour guide. Like the other four Walk Talk Tour London walking tours it is downloadable in MP3 format and available in English, French, German and Spanish.

The walking tour begins outside the National Gallery and concludes outside the British Museum. The tour consists of stops (or commentary points) like tracks on a iTunes album. To hear an audio sample from the tour please click here.

Buy One Walk Talk Tour and get the second free by entering the following code in the shopping basket page: BI123.

The bronze sculpture situated here is the Young Dancer by Enzo Plazzotta (pictured top). The Bow Street Runners were based in the building on the corner of Broad Court and Bow Street.