C + P 15-1700 law enforcement and punishments

Question 1

Was there continuity from the system used in Medieval England?

Answer 1

Yes
Some changes were made to improve law enforcement between c.1500 and c.1700. However, mostly there was continuity from the system used in medieval England.

Question 2

Continuity example: POLICING

recap: what was the hue and cry?

Answer 2

A method of raising the alarm to the rest of the village after a crime had been committed, usually by shouting loudly.

Note: Now led by the constable.

Witnesses were required to step in to stop suspects and/or report them to the authorities.

Question 3

Continuity example: POLICING

recap: what was the posse?

Answer 3

A group of men, over the age of 21, summoned by a sheriff to assist in preserving the public peace and called upon in an emergency.

Question 4

Continuity example: POLICING

recap: what was the Parish constable?

Answer 4

Parish constables were still used to protect citizens from crime. However, this was a part-time role without weapons or a uniform. Parish constables could arrest and punish criminals, including vagrants, who were often whipped. Constables were also responsible for offenders held in prison before their trial.

Question 5

POLICING

Reason for changes in law enforcement?

Answer 5

There were also some changes to policing in early modern England. These were largely made because the growth of towns brought with it new opportunities for criminals:

Question 6

POLICING

Role of watchmen?
What did they carry?

Answer 6

Larger towns employed watchmen to patrol the streets between 22:00 and dawn.
Watchmen carried a lamp and rang a bell to warn people to go home or risk being identified as criminals.

They were also expected to arrest vagabonds and drunks.

Question 7

POLICING

True or false?
All watchmen were volunteers and unpaid.

Answer 7

True

Question 8

POLICING

Town constable?

Answer 8

The town constable was appointed and employed by the town authorities. The constable was expected to turn serious criminals over to the courts, break up fights, round up vagrants, and collect community payments for road maintenance and cleaning.

Question 9

fill in the blanks: POLICING

Ordinary people were given the power to deal with crime themselves. They could obtain an ………. ……… from ……… to catch the criminal and deliver them to the ……….. .

Answer 9

Ordinary people were given the power to deal with crime themselves. They could obtain an arrest warrant from a Justice of the Peace (JPs) to catch the criminal and deliver them to the constable.

Question 10

POLICING

How could people be incentivised to catch criminals?

Answer 10

Rewards were given for the arrest of criminals, often in the form of money.

Question 11

POLICING

What actions did wealthier households take that were ‘steps towards a paid police force’?

Answer 11

Wealthier householders joined together to hire armed guards to protect them and their families and property. These were early steps towards a paid police service.

Question 12

POLICING

Were constables and watchmen effective?

Answer 12

No.
Constables and watchmen had limited success and lacked motivation to hunt down criminals effectively.

Question 13

POLICING

Instead of watchmen and constables, what did many people turn to in order to reclaim their stolen property?

Answer 13

Many people turned to professional thief takers to reclaim their stolen property. Thief takers were paid a percentage of their recovered ‘booty’ and delivered criminals to the authorities. This system was open to corruption as criminals were sometimes thief takers too.

Question 14

TRIALS

What three types of courts still continued?

Answer 14

Manor courts continued to deal with local and minor crimes such as drunkenness.
Royal judges still visited each county twice a year to judge the most serious offences. These became known as county assizes.
Church courts continued to be used to judge churchmen and those who could claim benefit of the clergy.

Question 15

TRIALS (changes)

What did JPs now also do?

Answer 15

Four times a year, JPs would meet with other JPs from across England at quarter sessions. Here they would judge more serious cases of crime and had the power to sentence an offender to death.

Question 16

What happened to the benefit of the clergy?

Answer 16

By 1600, more people could read and were able to claim benefit of the clergy using the ‘neck verse’ - where a verse from the Bible was read to prove their connection to the Church. This led to a change in the law preventing anyone from using benefit of the clergy for serious crimes.

Question 17

When was the Habeus Corpus Act passed and waht didit mean?

Answer 17

The Habeas Corpus Act was passed in 1679.
This prevented the authorities from imprisoning anyone indefinitely without charging them with a crime. Those who were arrested had to appear in court, within a certain time, to stand trial or be released. Habeas corpus is still in effect today.

Question 18

What punishments continued to be used for smaller crimes?

Answer 18

Fines continued to be the most common punishment given.
The stocks and pillory continued to be used to humiliate and publicly shame.
Corporal punishment, in the form of whipping in public

When were they used?

Fines were used to punish swearing, gambling and failure to attend church. They acted as a form of deterrence.
Stocks those accused of cheating at games, persistent swearing, selling underweight bread and repeated drunkenness.
Whipping was often used to punish vagrants and those who had been convicted of petty theft.

Question 19

What was the death penalty used for?

Death penalty was used for the most serious of crimes.

Answer 19

Murder,
Treason,
Poaching,
Smuggling,
Witchcraft,
Arson

Question 20

Punishment for the crime of heresy?

Answer 20

Burning at the stake.

Question 21

Name of the famous gallows built in 1571?

To hang several criminals at once?

Answer 21

Tyburn Tree

Question 22

What were Houses of Correction?
When did they come about?

Answer 22

1576 Act for the Relief of the Poor - Houses of Correction were to be built in each county. Those refusing to work would be sent there.
Punish vagrants and repeat offenders with hard labour and whipping.

Question 23

What was the aim of Houses of Correction?

Answer 23

It was believed that hard work would persuade offenders to change their behaviour.
Conditions were inteded to disuade more people from turing to vagrancy.

Question 24

When and where was the first House of Correction set up?

Answer 24

The first was established in 1556 in Bridewell Palace, London.

Question 25

True or false?
Transportation started being used in the 1600s?

Answer 25

Transportation was used as a punishment from the 1660s.

It was an effective deterrent at a time when formal prisons did not exist.

Question 26

Where were transported people sent?
How many were sent?

Answer 26

Those convicted of murder escaped death but were sent to the new colony of America to help build settlements. Once their sentence was completed, they were forbidden to return to England.
As many as 80,000 people were transported to America, including men, women and children.

Question 27

What did James I do regarding transportation?

Answer 27

In 1618 James I gave permission for vagrant children to be transported because the homeless were seen as a source of plague and criminality. It was argued that these children, known as ‘duty boys’, could start a new life in America. However, many died as conditions on the ships and in the colonies were extremely harsh.

Question 28

When was the Bloody Code introduced and what did it mean?

Answer 28

In 1688 there was a change to the law and the Bloody Code was introduced. This increased the number of capital crimes - crimes that were punished with the death penalty. In 1688 there were 50 capital crimes.

Capital crimes included poaching rabbit or fish to feed a family