Introduction to Truncheons and Tipstaves

Anyone looking at this site will no doubt instantly recognise the traditional form of the truncheon and will require no further explanation as to what it is and why it was issued. What might not be known is why they were once decorated and why can such a variety of shapes and sizes can be found. However this instant recognition is not likely to be the same for a tipstaff.

The golden era for decorated truncheons occurred from the late eighteenth century to about 1880. There are of course exceptions and examples dating back to the first half of the eighteenth century are known, but these must be considered as rare. The reason they were decorated is that in addition to being a weapon of defence the decoration was a sign of the holder's authority. It is this reason that most decoration relates in some way to the monarchy and often to the office of the holder and where they were from.

A tipstaff was carried by the holder of an appointed office, but acted purely as a sign of authority and had no defensive capability because of its size. Most people would describe a tipstaff as a short cylindrical staff topped with a metal crown. There are however many wooden truncheons that are so small in their form that they were obviously designed to perform the function of a tipstaff. Therefore the absence of the metal crown does not in my opinion necessarily define these items as a truncheon. This difficulty of sometimes distinguishing the two is the reason I have included both within my collecting interest and have included them on this site.

The reason the date 1880 is chosen as the end period for decorated truncheons is that about this time police forces started to issue warrant cards which are still carried today and act as proof of identity for the holder. Again there are exceptions to this rule and the twentieth century in particular saw a revival for issuing commemorative truncheons for major events such as World War One and the General Strike of 1926. Examples from World War Two are known, but by this time the trend was not as great and examples are hard to find.

In order to gain the greatest understanding about different truncheons a knowledge of the history of policing is useful. This site is not designed to give a history of policing in general, but it is useful to remember that regular organised police forces as we know them today were only formed from about 1840 onwards following the model laid down by the Metropolitan Police which was formed in 1829. Before this date policing was very much based on the old parish constable system which linked back to Saxon times. This means that most truncheons dating pre 1840 are likely to be unique. They would not have been a mass produced commodity, but would have been locally made and decorated. This helps the collector understand why they will encounter such a variety of shapes sizes.

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