Autograph letter signed by Lord Chief Justice, Charles Abbott policing 1829

CHARLES ABBOTT (1762–1832), 1st Baron Tenterden, Lord Chief Justice of England. Autograph letter signed, Raphael Square, London, 9 June 1829.
 
Single sheet, approx. 170 × 120 mm, written on one side only; folded as sent. chip to bottom left corner; light handling marks; ink clear and legible. Very good. 
 
Letter addressed to a Brother Firth, perhaps a friend or fellow free mason, reporting that Abbott has not yet seen (future Prime Minister and Home Secretary) Robert Peel or (under secretary of the Home Office) John Cam Hobhouse, and conveying Peel’s position that no assurances will be given on the matter raised until “the bill now pending in Parlt shall have passed into a law”. Abbott adds that he will take the first suitable opportunity to raise the issue once the legislation is settled.
 
Dated during the parliamentary session that saw the passage of Peel’s reforms at the Home Office, including the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829, which established the Metropolitan Police and reorganised policing in London under civil authority. The letter reflects the convention of withholding commitments while legislation was still before Parliament. A rare letter by the Lord Chief Justice in the year of major policing reforms.