ABSTRACT
The transformation to an industrial and increasingly urban society put an immense strain on the older institutions that administered the state. From the 1830s, most politicians accepted that the government had some responsibility for policing and some welfare and that these could not be left entirely to voluntary effort. Legislation was passed bringing state regulation into factories, mines, education and public houses. Aspects of the economy were shaped by railway acts, banking and company regulation; the Post Office was reformed; the telegraph nationalised; the contents of food regulated; and measures taken to improve public health. The civil service and the police force expanded and municipal authorities extended their control of markets, docks, water and gas. Police forces spread first in London, with the formation of the Metropolitan police in 1829, then in the towns covered by the Municipal Reform legislation and then in rural areas. The Police Act of 1856 ensured that the system was universal and properly inspected.
