BTPHG member Mike Joyce found this interesting piece in the Edinburgh Evening news from Saturday 14th August 1920.
The accompanying text reads:
“POLICEWOMEN AT RAILWAY STATIONS.
The Caledonian Company is the first in Great Britain to employ policewomen in railway service, and our photograph is of one at the Central Station, Glasgow. Ladies travelling on the railways know how objectionable it is to have rub shoulders with undesirable characters who may have escaped the observation of the male staff on the platforms and who loiter and the waiting rooms with no intention travelling by the train services, although they provide themselves with tickets give them a footing in the waiting rooms, and the difficulty eradicating this element is one which has been receiving the attention of the railway authorities. The Caledonian Company have instituted a staff of women police and secured the services a number of women who have been trained for the Women’s National Police Service and who have had practical experience among women in munition and military centres, and who are, therefore, specially suited for this work. These women police will be able to identify and clear out any objectionable female characters who may make use of the waiting rooms the stations however well they may be attired to give them the air of respectability.”
We know, of course, that these were not the first policewomen on the railways in Great Britain, many having served in WWI (see Police Women on the Railways).
However, this may be the first recorded instance of a railway company recruiting females during peacetime. Also interesting that they were using officers who had experience working during the war.
See other examples of early policewomen in our Photo Gallery.
