Crime and Punishment in 18th and 19th century Britain

Question 1

Which crimes were most feared by the authorities in the period 1500-1700?

Answer 1

heresy, vagabondage and witchcraft.

Question 2

Why did these old crimes of heresy, vagabondage and witchcraft change? Give three reasons.

Answer 2

1. The religious uncertainty of the Reformation had passed - the last execution for heresy was in 1612.
2. Wealth increased from 1700-1900. Therefore, fear of vagabondage decreased greatly.
3. Most educated people, usually the ones responsible for judging cases of witchcraft, became less likely to believe these accusations.

Question 3

What happened in 1736?

Answer 3

The witchcraft laws were finally repealed.

Question 4

Which TYPES of crime became more of a worry to the authorities in the 18th and 19th centuries?

Answer 4

Crimes that threatened trade (such as highway robbery and smuggling), the interests of landowners (such as poaching) and the interests of employers (even such as joining trade unions.

Question 5

Was highway robbery a new crime?

Answer 5

No, it started during the chaos of the Civil War (1642-49).

Question 6

Was it really a big problem?

Answer 6

Yes! By the 1700s, it had become infamous and reached epidemic proportions in some areas.

Question 7

Where were the worst-affected areas?

Answer 7

Around London on the main routes into the capital.

Question 8

Were these highwaymen gentlemen or brutal robbers?

Answer 8

They were ruthless and would think nothing of killing or maiming their victims to avoid being identified.

Question 9

What factors explain the growth of highway robbery?

Answer 9

Some factors include:

More people travelling in their own coaches
Handguns were easier to obtain
Demobilised soldiers struggled to make an honest living
Horses became cheaper to buy - making it easier for robbers to ambush victims and then make quick getaways
No police force and local constables didn’t track criminals across county lines
Highwaymen could hide and sell their stolen loot in taverns
Bad roads meant coaches had to slow down

Question 10

What factors explain the rapid decline in highway robbery?

Answer 10

Better roads meant quicker and more frequent coaches
Mounted patrols were set up around London and high rewards given for information about highwaymen
JPs refused to license taverns used by highwaymen
Improvements in banking meant fewer people carried large amounts of money

Question 11

Why is poaching regarded by many historians as a ‘social crime’?

Answer 11

These are crimes that many people do not really regard as a crime. Poaching was against the law but widely tolerated because many people thought the law was unfair.

Question 12

Define the 1723 Black Act.

Answer 12

This showed how seriously the authorities saw poaching: it made the hunting of deer, hare or rabbits a capital crime. Anyone found armed, disguised or with a blackened face was assumed to be poaching and could be executed.

Question 13

Who was and was not allowed to hunt legally?

Answer 13

Only landowners whose land was worth £100 a year could hunt - and they could hunt anywhere. Landowners with land worth less than £100 a year and their tenants could not hunt - even on their own land.

Question 14

What was the punishment for possessing dogs or snares?

Answer 14

£5 fine or three months in prison.

Question 15

Why did people poach?

Answer 15

Usually just to supplement their diet with an occasional rabbit or to sell a pheasant to earn a small amount of money.

A minority poached for fun or sport.

Question 16

Who were the poachers?

Answer 16

Poor people (most people were poor!) such as: labourers, weavers, colliers, servants or low-paid workers.

Question 17

What effect did the harsh laws and use of gamekeepers have?

Answer 17

Some poachers became violent. For example - in 1786 a Staffordshire farm labourer horsewhipped a gamekeeper who tried to take his hare.

Also, villagers frequently gave alibis to protect poachers from conviction.

Question 18

Was poaching financially rewarding?

Answer 18

It could be (although most people only poached in small amounts). For example, John Lightwood, who killed almost 80 hares in 1764 before selling them for 3 shillings a piece - more than he could possibly earn in his day job.

Question 19

How did the black market affect the scale of poaching?

Answer 19

Organised gangs started to make larger amounts of money targeting the estates of wealthy people and catching large amounts of deer and wild game (e.g. pheasants) to sell in the large towns and cities.

Question 20

Why was smuggling a crime?

Answer 20

Because smugglers were bringing goods such as tea, cloth, wine and spirits into the country without paying import tax. At a time when there was no income tax, this meant the authorities took smuggling very seriously.

Question 21

What happened in 1748?

Answer 21

The Duke of Richmond was asked to smash the smuggling gangs. 35 smugglers were hanged and a further 10 dies in gaol.

Question 22

Did the Duke of Richmond’s actions ‘smash’ smuggling?

Answer 22

No. There were around 20,000 active smugglers - so it hardly had any impact.

Question 23

What criteria could you use to explain why smuggling increased or continued to flourish?

Answer 23

1. Fear of smugglers
2. The attraction of smuggling
3. Organised gangs
4. Public attitudes

Question 24

How widespread was smuggling and how many smugglers were there?

Answer 24

Very widespread - but concentraqted around the coast. In 1748, 103 people were officially ‘wanted’ as smugglers - but there were probably closer to 20,000.

Question 25

Who were the smugglers?

Answer 25

Over 70 percent were labourers. Fewer than 10 percent were small landowners. The rest were tradesmen, such as butchers and carpenters.

Question 26

Why did people smuggle?

Answer 26

For low-paid labourers, smuggling was a quick and exciting way to earn 6 or 7 times the daily wage in one night. In some areas, such as Sussex, where traditional industries such as cloth-making and fishing weer in decline, smuggling offered an alternative living.

Question 27

What was the public attitude to smuggling?

Answer 27

Ordinary people usually turned a blind eye to it. They were happy to pay lower prices for goods and disliked the expensive duties (tax) imposed by the government.

Question 28

Could locals profit from helping the smugglers?

Answer 28

Yes, they could earn 2 times the daily wage just by helping to carry goods from ship to shore.

Question 29

Describe a smuggling gang.

Answer 29

They could be 50 to 100 men strong. They were well armed and had little fear of the customs officers or the army.

Question 30

What evidence suggests the scale of the problem?

Answer 30

For example, it was estimated that 3 million pounds weight of tea was smuggled into Britain each year.

Question 31

Why couldn't the government do much about smuggling?

Answer 31

Apart from the sheer scale of the problem and the fact that most people turned a blind eye to it - or participated in it - the government had very few customs officers and could not afford to hire more.

Question 32

When was the French Revolution and why does this matter?

Answer 32

in 1789 - it matters because the authorities in Britain became terrified of the same thing happening here.

Question 33

What were the authorities on the lookout for during the build up to the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

Answer 33

Any signs of conspiracy and for groups whose ideas they considered suspect.

Question 34

Why was life so hard for farm labourers in the Dorset village of Tolpuddle?

Answer 34

Because they had their weekly wage cut several times. When they asked for an increase, they were refused and then their wages were cut again!

Question 35

Who led the farm labourers in asking for a wage increase?

Answer 35

A man called George Loveless.

Question 36

In 1833, after they had been refused a wage increase, what did the labourers of Tolpuddle do?

Answer 36

They set up a union - the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers.

Question 37

How did the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers (FSAL) admit into the union?

Answer 37

Each new member had to wear a blindfold and swear an oath of secrecy and support for the union.

Question 38

What happened after the FSAL was set up?

Answer 38

The farm owners found out (despite the oath of secrecy) and set about breaking the union up - they used a law originally intended for the Navy which said that swearing secret oaths was illegal because it could lead to mutiny.

Question 39

What law did the authorities use to convict the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

Answer 39

The Unlawful Oaths Act 1797, an obscure law created in response to mutinies in the Navy, which prohibited the swearing of secret oaths. This showed how nervous the authorities were because they were changing laws to suit their own purposes.

Question 40

What happened to the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

Answer 40

They were convicted and sentenced to 7 years' transportation to Australia.

Question 41

What happened to the Tolpuddle Martyrs after they had been transported to Australia?

Answer 41

There was widespread outcry at the sentence and there were protest marches attended by over 20,000 people and a petition that got 800,000 signatures.

Question 42

Did the Tolpuddle Martyrs stay in Australia?

Answer 42

No, they all came back (within two years) and were pardoned.

Question 43

What were the effects of the incident of the Tolpuddle Martyrs on the Trad Union movement?

Answer 43

The GNCTU was broken up and it was another 20 years before the trade union movement began to recover.

Question 44

What statistics can you give to demonstrate how population grew and moved into the urban centres in the 18th and 19th centuries?

Answer 44

1750 - c. 9.5 million people in England and Wales - mostly in villages scattered around the countryside. By 1900 - 41.5 million - mainly concentrated in towns and cities.

Question 45

How did work change in the same period?

Answer 45

During the 18th century - mainly farm work By the end of the 19th century - mostly workshops and factories; work had moved to the towns and cities as well as the people.

Question 46

How did voting rights change in the same period?

Answer 46

`Mid 18th century - one in eight men had the vote. | By 1885 - nearly all men had the vote.

Question 47

What effect did most men having the vote by 1885 have on politics?

Answer 47

The government now had to win the votes of working men, so started to make improvements to housing and health.

Question 48

Why did harvests become less of a gamble by the 19th century?

Answer 48

Because food could be quickly and cheaply imported from other countries, so bad harvest were less likely to result in famine and starvation.

Question 49

How big were the changes in travel and transport in the 18th and 19th centuries?

Answer 49

Huge. For example, by the 1840s, railways had become a major form of travel. These were much faster than roads and gradually became cheaper so that ordinary people could use them.

Question 50

How did all the improvements and changes in population create opportunities for the government in the 19th century?

Answer 50

Two centuries of trade and industrial growth meant that the government could collect higher taxes to pay for reforms that would improve people's lives.

Question 51

How did education change in the 18th and 19th centuries?

Answer 51

In the 18th century - a small minority attended school and literacy rates were low. By 1850, 70 per cent of the population could read and write. This rose to 95 per cent by 1900 - after a law that said all children must attend school until the age of 13.

Question 52

Was there a growing acceptance of government involvement?

Answer 52

Yes. Government had been seen as an interference for many years but by the 19th century people began to accept that the government should have some control over certain things.

Question 53

What were the new arguments about human nature?

Answer 53

Some people believed that improving people's life chances through education and improving living and working conditions would produce better behaviour. Other people started to twist the arguments of Charles Darwin (who had developed the theory of natural selection) to suggest that some people were inherently criminal - even less evolved than other people.

Question 54

When was the very first professional and full time police force set up?

Answer 54

1829

Question 55

Who was responsible for the first police force being set up?

Answer 55

Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel

Question 56

What two other things was Robert Peel famous for?

Answer 56

1. He was a supporter of penal reform and wanted to make prisons the main form of punishment for serious crimes. 2. He played a significant role in the abolition of the Bloody Code.

Question 57

Was Peel the first to try to improve policing in the capital?

Answer 57

No. Henry and John Fielding (brothers) were London magistrates who, after taking over at Bow Street Magistrate's Court in 1748, realised that more men were needed on the streets to reduce crime.

Question 58

What did the Fielding brothers blame the rise in crime on?

Answer 58

1. Breakdown in order as the population of London exploded | 2. The bad example set by politicians

Question 59

What did the Fielding brothers do to stop highway robbery?

Answer 59

They introduced a horse patrol. This was clearly effective because it ended highway robbery around London and when it stopped, the robbery returned!

Question 60

Who were the Bow Street Runners?

Answer 60

These were a team of thief-takers who patrolled the streets of London in the evenings. They also investigated crimes and presented evidence in court.

Question 61

What was 'The Hue and Cry' as established by the Fielding brothers?

Answer 61

It was a newspaper that published information about criminals, crime and stolen goods.

Question 62

Was the Fielding publication 'The Hue and Cry' useful in reducing crime?

Answer 62

Yes. Magistrates and gaolers from around the country passed on details so the newspaper became like a national network of information.

Question 63

What did Peel's 1829 police force replace?

Answer 63

The system of watchmen and parish constables.

Question 64

How many men did Peel's force of 1829 have?

Answer 64

Around 3,200.

Question 65

How was the uniform designed?

Answer 65

It was designed to look civilian rather than military and officers remained unarmed to distinguish themselves from the army.

Question 66

Why was such an effort made to make Peel's police force look different from the army?

Answer 66

In order to reduce public fear that the police might be used to limit their freedom

Question 67

When was Robert Peel appointed Home Secretary?

Answer 67

1822

Question 68

How did Peel persuade other politicians to follow his advice?

Answer 68

He made use of statistics to paint a picture of rising criminality. He was persuasive and reassured fellow politicians that a police force was no threat to freedom.

Question 69

Why had the government become more involved in people's lives in the build up to the introduction of the first police force in 1829?

Answer 69

Because of the war against France (1803-1814) which forced the government to raise more money through taxation.

Question 70

What role did local government have in the creation of a new police force?

Answer 70

Local authorities were given powers to raise money to pay for a police force.

Question 71

Why was there an increased FEAR of crime?

Answer 71

1. Publications, known as 'penny dreadfuls' made it seem like violent crime had increased massively. 2. There was an actual increase in crime in the years following the French wars - because unemployment increased.

Question 72

Why was there an increased fear of protest?

Answer 72

1. The French Revolution 2. High food prices and unemployment led to an actual increase in large-scale protests. Revolution seemed a real possibility.

Question 73

Why was London such a crime hot spot?

Answer 73

Overcrowding and inadequate policing (the old watchmen and parish constables).

Question 74

What happened in 1835?

Answer 74

A new law allowing towns to set up their own police force.

Question 75

What happened in 1839?

Answer 75

A new law allowing counties to set up their own police force. Also, The Bow Street Runners and other forces in London merged with the Metropolitan Police Force.

Question 76

What happened in 1842?

Answer 76

The Metropolitan Police force set up the first detective force to gather evidence, investigate and solve crimes after they had been committed.

Question 77

What happened in 1856?

Answer 77

It became compulsory for all towns and counties to set up police forces. By this time the police were regarded with respect rather than suspicion.

Question 78

What happened in 1870?

Answer 78

Police helmets introduced.

Question 79

What happened in 1878?

Answer 79

The Metropolitan Police detective force was reorganised into the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Over the next few years, this was rolled out to the whole country.

Question 80

What happened by 1884?

Answer 80

39,000 police in Britain and over 200 separate forces.

Question 81

What's the counter-intuitive thing about the Bloody Code?

Answer 81

It was introduced in the late 1600s when crime rates were falling and abolished in the 1820s and 1830s when the crime rate was rising!

Question 82

Key date in the abolition of the Bloody Code: 1789

Answer 82

Last woman burned for murdering her husband.

Question 83

Key date in the abolition of the Bloody Code: 1808

Answer 83

Sir Samuel Romilly gets a law passed that abolishes death penalty for pickpocketing.

Question 84

Key date in the abolition of the Bloody Code: 1820

Answer 84

Last beheading - of the Cato Street conspirators who had tried to assassinate the entire government.

Question 85

Key date in the abolition of the Bloody Code: 1820s - 1830s

Answer 85

Abolition of nearly all capital crimes.

Question 86

Key date in the abolition of the Bloody Code: 1841

Answer 86

Only murder and treason remain as capital crimes.

Question 87

Key date in the abolition of the Bloody Code: 1868

Answer 87

The last public hanging took place.

Question 88

Which individual was most responsible for the abolition of the Bloody Code and why?

Answer 88

Sir Robert Peel (Home Secretary in the 1820s). Peel made key contributions to penal reform and established the first full-time, professional police force.

Question 89

How did juries and the conviction rate contribute as a cause of the abolition of the Bloody Code in the 1820s-1830s?

Answer 89

Juries would not convict because the punishments were seen as unfair and out of proportion to the crime.

Question 90

What statistical evidence supports the argument that juries were not convicting because if the harshness of the punishments?

Answer 90

Even in the early 1700s only 40 per cent of those convicted of capital crimes were actually hanged. By the 1800s, this had fallen to 10 per cent, despite an overall increase in the crime rate.

Question 91

How did the unwillingness of courts to convict or punish capital crimes undermine the law?

Answer 91

Criminals felt more confident of escaping punishment and so were more likely to commit crimes. The Bloody Code was actually undermining the law and not protecting the property of the wealthy landowners and the middle class.

Question 92

How did public executions also contribute as a cause to the ending of the Bloody Code leading up to the 1820s and 1830s?

Answer 92

During the 1700s, crowds grew larger, partly because newspapers were advertising them more. Some factories even closed on execution day to allow workers to attend the cheap entertainment!

Question 93

Why was the popularity of public executions a problem and a cause for the end of the Bloody Code?

Answer 93

Because the large crowds made it harder to keep order and also presented an ideal opportunity for pickpockets to ply their trade. There was always the possibility of a criminal escaping if the crowd were sympathetic or felt them to be innocent. There was also an increased risk of protest riots - especially if there were mass hangings and the offenders had been sentenced to death for minor or social crimes.