Originally published as The Quarterly Pursuit in 1772 by chief magistrate John Fielding before going through several title changes, including The Public Hue and Cry and The Hue and Cry, the paper eventually became known as The Police Gazette in 1839.
The paper was comprised of a main weekly edition with the primary purpose of sharing details on crimes committed around London and public pleas for information. There were also several supplementary additions - with publication ranging from fortnightly to daily - which carried more extensive information like details of travelling criminals, photographs of wanted individuals, and lists of “Deserters from Her Majesty’s Service”. We particularly like the ‘marks and remarks’ column, which details what clothing and equipment each deserter had taken with them, as well as any identifying marks.
Because of this extensive referencing of names – also including military casualties and deportees to the colonies - The Police Gazette is considered an extremely useful resource for tracing lost ancestors both at home and abroad.
After more than two hundred years, The Police Gazette ceased publication in 2017.
Variant Titles:
1773-1776 The Public Hue and Cry, or, Sir John Fielding's General Preventative Plan
1797-1810 The Hue and Cry, and Police Gazette
1828-1839 Police Gazette, or, Hue and Cry
1839-1900 Police Gazette
For this newspaper, we have the following titles in, or planned for, our digital archive:
- 1773–76 The Public Hue and Cry, or, Sir John Fielding's General Preventative Plan
- 1797–1810 The Hue and Cry, and Police Gazette
- 1825–27 The Hue and Cry, and Police Gazette
- 1828–1918 Police Gazette, or, Hue and Cry
