During our Christmas concert one of our choristers read out a potted history of the MPC. We are reprising it here now as many people were interested to know more about the history of the choir and hope you enjoy it.
In 1872 10 officers from A Whitehall Division started a singing group to give concerts raising money for local orphanages and police charities. One of them was Sir James Olive who later rose to become the Deputy Commissioner. In its heyday in the 1920s this group were giving 150 concerts a year with the choristers allowed four hours Time Off per show. Controversially they used to go round selling tickets for their shows direct to businesses and residents but in the 1930s this practice was disallowed by the then Commissioner and the group effectively disbanded. Only to be resurrected after the Second World War when it was reformed as Metropolitan Police Choral Society.
Multiple divisional choirs existed under that main umbrella society including a large women’s choir which sometimes performed with some of the male groups and lasted up until the 1960s before disbanding. However in 1955 finally one central choir was formed – it had many names over the next fifteen years but settled on the Metropolitan Police Male Voice Choir in 1970.
The choir toured all over Europe, has sung for royalty and taken part in some of the nation’s iconic events. It became a mixed choir in 2016 and is still going strong and helping to raise money for good causes 150 years on from those first 10 officers from A Whitehall Division back in 1872.
A picture of the choir in around 1960