Founded by magistrate Patrick Colquhoun and Master Mariner John Harriott, on the site from which it still operates. Set up to protect the cargo ships from theft which was proving very costly to the companies using the docks. Initially financed by the West India Merchants and the West India Planters Committees it covered just the Pool of London - that's the section of the Thames from London Bridge down to Cuckold’s Point (the north-eastern tip of the Rotherhithe peninsula).
Incorporated into the Metropolitan Police in 1839 as the Thames Division. Lots more interesting information and stories at Thames Police Museum.
Our picture is an 1859 etching by Whistler of the Wapping Wharf with the police headquarters being the building on the right (with the words "Thames Police" helpfully inscribed at the top.)
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