Emigrant runner's badge. Inscription: 'EMIGRANT 124 RUNNER' on both sides. 'Runners' were middle men who acted for emigrants leaving British ports often running their own boarding houses. They were notorious for cheating emigrants over luggage, currency exchange and the purchase of stores for the voyage. The passenger act of 1855 required runners to be registered, licensed annually and to wear an official badge. The badge is brass, circular, with the lettering cast in relief, a queen's crown above the inscription. A red leather suspension strap runs through a slot in the badge and is sewn on the reverse. The strap has a circular hole and slit at the far end for attachment to a stud. The Act directed that he badge had to be worn conspicuously on the breast.