GLASGOW’S darkest tales of its criminal past are housed in a small independent museum in the city centre that many may walk by.
The Glasgow Police Museum opened its doors in 2002, originally in the former Central Police office in St Andrew’s Square.
It was founded by the Glasgow Police Heritage Society, a group of retired officers who served in the City of Glasgow Police before it became Strathclyde Police and who wanted the history to live on.
When the council closed the Central Police office in 2008, the Society transformed an old office building on Bell Street into the new home of the UK’s oldest police force.
The museum has always been looked after by volunteers and holds hundreds of artefacts, from uniforms to historical photographs and documents.
History buffs can learn in detail about the role of the police in some of Glasgow’s most infamous crimes, from the Paisley Union Bank robbery of 1811 to the Peter Manuel murders.
Delve into the complicated case of the murder of wealthy 83-year-old Marion Gilchrist in 1908. Glasgow’s Detective Inspector Pyper became convinced of German immigrant Oscar Slater’s guilt after discovering he pawned a brooch after Marion’s house was raided. Armed with three of his key witnesses, Pyper followed him to New York.
Despite the brooch Slater pawned having a different number of diamonds and being pawned weeks before the murder, Slater was eventually found guilty.
This became one of the most controversial convictions in the country’s history, and even Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle called for his innocence.
Or learn of the crime spree by a quiet, respectable young bank apprentice. Edwin Finlay had a promising future ahead of him after securing employment at the Argyle Street branch of the British Linen Bank. But in 1952, Finlay stole £1,000 from the bank and seemingly fled to Dublin.
On September 4, two plainclothes officers heard rumours Finlay was back and meeting a girlfriend in Hyndland Road. On approaching him, the officers were stunned to see Finlay turn and pull a gun on them both.
While the museum is modest in size, it is easy to get lost in the thrilling history of the city’s crimes and the men, women and dogs who investigated them. It is open daily and is free to visit.
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