The essays that follow aim to capture aspects of the unique style of R.J. Morris, aspects which taken together represent the formidable legacy that he leaves to the global world of urban history.

Bob Morris was elected as president of the European Association for Urban History (EAUH) ahead of its 2002 conference in Edinburgh. Bob’s presidency, and the Edinburgh conference specifically, took place at an important point in the development of urban history within Europe and further afield. First, the programme reveals several emerging themes and topics of interest that have since shaped the sub-field in new and innovative ways. Second, Bob’s informal and collegial approach towards networking is reflected in the decision to place the EAUH on a quasi-formal constitutional basis. Both of these developments reflect, in part, Bob’s own research interests, as well as the sub-field’s welcoming approach to younger researchers, including taught and research postgraduate students, interested in networking with more established scholars.

High density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping panels provide an alternative to microsatellite markers for genome scans. However, genotype errors have a major impact on power to detect linkage or association and are difficult to detect for SNPs. We estimated error rates with the Affymetrix GeneChip® SNP platform in samples from a family with a mixed set of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) triplets using lymphocyte, buccal DNA and samples from whole genome amplification using the multiple displacement amplification (MDA) technique. The average call rate from 58,960 SNPs for five genomic samples was 99.48%. Comparison of results for the MZ twins showed only three discordant genotypes (concordance rate 99.995%). The mean concordance rate for comparisons of samples from lymphocyte and buccal DNA was 99.97%. Mendelian inconsistencies were identified in 46 SNPs with errors in one or more family members, a rate of 0.022%. Observed genotype concordance rates between parents, between parents and children, and among siblings were consistent with previously reported allele frequencies and Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. Using the MDA technique, results for two samples had equivalent high accuracy to results with genomic samples. However, the SNP call rate for the remaining seven samples varied from 72.5% to 99.5%, with an average of 86.11%. Quality of the DNA sample following the MDA reaction appears to be the critical factor in SNP call rate for MDA samples. Our results demonstrate highly accurate and reproducible genotyping for the Affymetrix GeneChip® Human Mapping Set in lymphocyte and buccal DNA samples.

Using a variety of archival sources, notably personnel records and municipal minute books, this article builds a picture of the work-life histories of rank-and-file police constables and firefighters in the English cities of Birmingham and Leicester, and contrasts the techniques of behavioural control adopted by their employers. By drawing on an expanding literature on the social history of public institutions, the article compares the experience of managing such disciplined and uniformed public services. The article demonstrates that municipal management combined insidious devices for controlling workers' behaviour with consensual and negotiated tactics deployed by workers aware of the tangible material benefits offered by a career in public service. Moreover, by placing the English experience of municipal policing and fire-fighting in an international context by focusing on the visits and writings made by prominent technical and social reformers, the article offers a framework within which comparative research can be undertaken.

Through a case study of Birmingham fire brigade, this article examines the plethora of international networking activities undertaken during the late Victorian and early Edwardian period. Birmingham fire brigade, under the control of Alfred Tozer, led British municipal participation in early international fire networks, attending international congresses and exhibitions in Berlin and London, and also visiting continental cities to inspect fire brigades and their appliances. Locating the study firmly within historical debates concerning the embryonic international municipal movement, this article demonstrates that municipal institutions participated in networking activities as part of a policy learning and knowledge-transfer process.