Name/Title
Brighton Borough Police brass belt clasp c1870 - early 1900sEntry/Object ID
579Description
Brass clasp for belt, Square shaped with scroll decoration each side, marked "Brighton Police" with coat of arms centre.Use
Used to fasten a uniform belt over a tunic or overcoat.Context
Belts were first introduced when police forces abandoned the tail coat in favour of a tunic in the 1850's. They smartened the appearance of the long tunics then worn and were used to hang leather truncheon holders, occasionally small swords and at night oil lanterns. When used at night they would often have leather guards attached to prevent the oil lamps from burning or staining the uniform.
This particular clasp is square shaped marked "Brighton Police" and has the coat of arms for Brighton, two dolphins. Usually police belt clasps like this are made of nickel silver or are nickel plated, so the brass finish is unusual. The museum has a belt with an almost identical clasp, made in nickel silver. The one pictured does not appear to have ever been plated, so may have been intended to be brass coloured, possibly for use by the Brighton Police Fire Brigade, who were in operation until 1922. If so it must have been in use prior to 1902 as a group photograph from that year shows the Brigade wearing belts with ordinary buckles. It is thought unlikely that it was for a senior officer as they would have been expected to wear something other than brass.
Photographs of Brighton officers show leather belts with very similar clasps being worn as early as the 1870s and into the early 1900s, although they do not appear to have been worn for summer use. After this period it is thought that they may only have been used in Brighton at night.
The use of belts nationally, declined in the 1920's, and they were often only used for ceremonial occasions. It is known though that some police forces retained them for night use until the 1960's, presumably to hang battery powered lamps that replaced oil lanterns in the 1920's.
Photographs show that many of the Sussex police forces issued elaborate belt clasps like this one in the 19th and early 20th centuries, sometimes supplementing their use with plain examples with generic "snake's head" clasps.