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336. A rare Victorian weighted truncheon, decorated with a crown, ‘V, R.’ ‘BRIDGEWATER’ ‘CANAL’ ‘POLICEMAN’, 49cm long. £400-600 337. A rare George III brass tipstaff, with an acorn finial and a crown, ‘GR’, ‘3’, ‘BRISTOL / 1 / DOCK WATCH’, 29 cm long. £500-700 338. A rare Victorian railway truncheon, painted a black ground with a crown, ‘S.E.R’, (South East Railway) with a ribbed handle, 44cm long. £500-700 339. A rare Victorian Taff Vale Railway truncheon, decorated with a mountain goat, ‘T.V.R’, a crown, ‘No 9’, with a ribbed handle, 46cm long. £600-800 340. An extremely rare George III Special Constable’s long truncheon, painted with a crown and ‘BERMONDSEY SPECIAL CONSTABLE’ within a spiral £800-1,000 ribbon, 79.5cm long.
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One of the longest British truncheons in existence. A similar example is illustrated in Mitton.
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341. An extremely rare Victorian long overseer’s truncheon from Tasmania, with crown, ‘VR’, ‘VDL’ (Van Dieman’s Land), ‘16’, ‘PORT ARTHUR PENAL SETTLEMENT’, turned grip, 88.5cm long. £1,200-1,500 Provenance: Wallis & Wallis, 22nd July 2014. Ex. Mitton. Tasmania was known as Van Dieman’s Land until 1855 and this truncheon dates from c.1837-1855. The Port Arthur settlement existed from 1830-1877 and convicts experienced a system of administration based on corporal punishment. Overseers and constables relied upon the threat of cat-o-nine-tails, irons or sensory deprivation in solitary confinement. This colonial truncheon is one of the longest in existence. 342. ‘The History of Truncheons’, by E. R. H. Dicken, Arthur H. Stockwell, Limited. £100-120
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