18th and 19th century Britain

What was crime like in 18th and 19th century Britain?

Big rise in crime rates from 1750-1850 due to the rising population.

Petty theft still the most common crimes, authorities less concerned about heresy, treason, witchcraft and vagabondage.

More concerned with crimes that disrupted trade, eg. Smuggling, highway robbery and poaching.

What is the black act?

1723 Waltham Black Act, a British law that created over 350 new capital offenses, increasing the number of crimes punishable by death.

Name methods of law enforcement used in 18th and 19th century Britain.

Metropolitan police force in 1829.

What happened to the bloody code?

1765 - 160 crimes punished by capital punishment

1815 - 225

1820s onwards was abolished (due to 1823 gaols act)

Name punishments in 18th and 19th century Britain.

An increasing use of prisons - more belief in reform rather than detterrence.

How did poverty and wealth change in 18th and 19th centuries?

There was a general increase in wealth although most were extremely poor.

When were witchcraft laws revoked?

1736

What was highway robbery?

The act of stealing from someone whilst travelling. It was most common in industrialized areas such as London and the surrounding roads.

Who was Jack Shepherd (1724)?

A highway robber with thousands of admirers - so can be seen as a social crime. He escaped from prison 4 times and was so popular the authorities banned any plays with his name in it.

He was hanged in 1724.

Why did highway robbery grow? (7)

Improved road surfaces so coaches were commonly used.

Expansion of towns.

After the wars, many struggled to find work, especially soldiers.

No police force.

Horses were cheaper to buy.

Highwaymen could hide and sell their stolen loot in taverns.

People carried most of their wealth around as there were no banks.

Why did highway robbery decline?

Banking system became more sophisticated and grew so fewer travellers carried large amounts of money.

Jps refused to license taverns that were frequented by highwaymen.

Mounted patrols were set up around London with high rewards that encouraged people to report any known activities of highwaymen.

Road surfaces improved so coaches travelled at faster speeds.

What was the death penalty introduced for in 1722?

For anyone disguised and with a gun on the highway.

Why was poaching a prblem crime?

Laws said only landowners whose land was worth over 300 pounds could hunt and could hunt everywhere.

Many people ignored these laws and hunted on their own land.

There were people who sold to the black market due to the demand for game as population increased.

What became a capital offences in 1723?

The black act made hunting deer, hare or rabbit a capital offences.

What are arguaments that suggest poaching laws were too harsh?

They were only to protect the interest of wealthy landowners.

Hunting helped poorer people get enough food to survive.

The public felt they were too harsh and often lied in court to avoid giving the death penalty.

What was owning a dog that could be used for poaching punishable by?

A 5 pound fine or 3 months in prison. Seen as highly unfair as most people hunted to survive and didn’t have enough money in the first place.

What are reasons to suggest poaching laws weren’t harsh?

There’s a minority of better off poachers who hunted for sport and entertainment.

Poachers often used violence and intimidated gamekeepers - they needed controlling.

Describe what smuggling was, why ot was profitable, and why it was treated harshly.

Brought goods such as tea, cloth, wine and spirits without paying import tax.

Due to this time having no income tax, duties were the governments main source of income so sumggling was treated very seriously.

1700 - Gov introduced taxes so they could make higher profits.

How many smugglers were there estimated to be?

20,000

How was smuggling a social crime?

People liked buying cheaper goods so smugglers became popular.

Who were the hawkhurst gang?

A gang lead by Arthur Gray and Thomas kingsmill in 1735-1749. They seized their goods from a customs house at Poole in 1747 and brutally murdered 2 customs offices leading to the arrest of 75 gang members who were excectueted.

Why did smugglers create fear?

To deter people from interfering with them or reporting them.

Why were people attracted to smuggling?

People liked lower prices and disliked the expensive duties. If you became a smuggler you could 6-7x the daily wage in one night.

Why did organised gangs make it harder for the government ot control smuggling?

They could be as large as 50-100 men.

They were well-armed and had little fer o the government, customs officers or other authorities.

They could move the goods at speed so were hard to track down.

Why did public attitudes make it harder for the government ot control smuggling?

People liked cheaper prices.

Some locals worked with the gangs to help them and could earn 2x the daily wage in one night.

The wealthy were also involved - some bought the goods too making them reluctant to stop them.

Why did smuggling eventually end?

The government decreased import duties so it wasn't profitable enough to survive on?

What crime did the Tolpuddle Martyrs committ?

Forming a trade union in 1833 - an organisation of workers set up to defend their interests and campaign for improvements in working conditions.

What did the Tolpuddle Martyrs do?

They asked their employer for a wage increase from 10 shillings a day instead of the 7 they were getting.

Their employer lowered it to 6 shillings in response and has them arrested.

What were the Tolpuddle Martyrs sentenced to?

Transportation for 7 years, treated as slaves, harsh labour.

How did the public react to the Tolpuddle martyrs’ sentence?

Many were shocked and inspired, joining trade unions soon became popular.

25,000 attended a meeting against their unfair treatment and 250,000 signed the Martyrs petition so in 1836 all 6 men were pardoned.

Why was the bloody code introduced?

Fear of crime increased - due to printing press and pamphlets

People on the move - harder to police

Protecting property - wealthy see poor as a threat

Attitudes in society - wanting to keep people in their place

When did transportation to Australia occur?

1787-1868

Why did the bloody code end?

Increased use to prisons

Building more prisons due to government getting more income.

Shift in ideas about human nature - people can be reformed

Juries wouldn't give the capital punishment for minor crimes as they believed it was too harsh.

What was work like in the 18th and 19th centuries?

Areas are now vastly populated and urbanized as most people found employment in workshops or factories.

What were voting rights like in the 18th and 19th centuries?

During the 18th century, only 1 in 8 men could vote, which increased to nearly all men in 1885.

Governments began began to make improvements to housing and health in order to win votes from ordinary people.

Why did Britain have to start shipping convicts to Australia rather than America?

The american war of independence in 1776

What type of crimes could get you transported?

Pickpocketing, forgery, rioting.

Why were convicts who were transported made to wear outfits similar to a court jesters?

To humiliate and shame them.

What was the minimum and maximum sentence someone could be transported for?

7 years to life. A ticket of leave could be granted after 4 years.

Why did transportation end?

Discovery of gold in 1851 meant being sent there was seen as a reward.

Increasing use and building of prisons.

Settlers put pressure on the government to stop sending criminals there as they didn't want the area to be made up of criminals.

What were the reasons for introducing transportation?

Less harsh punishments than hanging so juries would convict.

It would be harsh enough to terrify and detter criminals and reduce crime by removing them.

It would help claim new land in Australia for britain.

It would reform criminals through hard work.

What did the fielding brothers do?

They established the bow street runnersa team of thief-takers who patrolled the streets of London in the evenings.

They introduced a a horse patrol to stop highway men in 1763. This effectively ended highway robbery around London. When it stopped, the robbers returned so a new patrol was set up in 1805.

What was the Metropolitan police act of 1829?

A police system that replaced watchmen and parish constables. The new force had 3,200 men. The uniform was designed to look civilian rather than military and officers were unarmed to try and reduce fear the police would reduce the public’s freedom.

Why was Peel able to set up the Met in 1829?

Increased crime and fear of crime: crime had risen a lot since the war with France (1803-1814) since unemployment was a problem.

Fear of protest: after the French revolution, government governments and landowners began to fear something similar would happen in Britain. High food prices and unemployment led to many large-scale protests after 1815.

London: rapid growth of town made use of constables and watchmen inadequate, especially in London as it was so densely populated.

How did the use of prisons change around the nineteenth century?

Imprisonment became the normal method of punishing criminals - replaced capital punishment for everything except murder by mid-nineteenth century.

Prisons became important as the reasons for punishment changed - executions used to be public to create fear, however they no longer had this effect. Punishments began to be based around reform.

A huge increase in prisoners led to the government taking over the whole prison system - in the 1700s, prisons were run locally with no rules about their organisation, by the 1870s there were government inspectors.

Describe the prison system in the early 1800s

All prisoners were houses together.

Stories could be exchanged thought to inspire first time offenders by harden criminals.

Prison wardens were unpaid and had to earn money through charging prisoners fees. If you were well off you could afford luxuries like beer or pets. Prisoners could even pay a fee to be released.

Prisoners had to pay to see a doctor, problem as prisons had unsanitary conditions and if you were poor you wouldn't afford help.

When was the Gaols Act? Who put it into practice?

1823, Robert Peel who was home secretary at the time.

What are some of the stipulations of the Gaols Act 1823?

Must be healthy - fresh water, adequate drainage.

Wardens and officers should be paid, all prisoners to have food but not keep pets.

Prisoners separated so hardened criminals were not with first time offenders, males and females separated.

All prisoners had to attend chapel and receive religious instruction from the chaplain.

Magistrates must visit prisons and check up on them.

Female prisoners with female prison guards.

What did John Howard do?

1726 - 1790

Was sheriff of bedfordshire and became interested in prisons. He inspected the prisons in bedfordshire and was outraged and toured other prisons in England and Wales.

Published a report in 1777: the state of prisons in England and Wales.

What did the report John Howard wrote in 1777 say?

It was detailed including many problems in the system. He strongly attacked the fees prisoners had to pay.

His proposals included the separation of prisoners, healthier accomodation, decent diet, better prison guards.

Was criticised for being too lenient.

Who was Elizabeth Fry?

A quaker who was interested in women and children. She visited Newgate prison and was horrified of what she found.

What did Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) find at newgate prison?

300 women, some with babies and small children were crammed into three rooms.

She highlighted the poor living conditions and the exploitation of women prisoners by male prison guards.

She encouraged other Quakers to visit and set up prayer groups to give the women religious instruction.

She set up a school at newgate for the kids and taght them useful work like sewing.

Who were the bow street runners?

A team of thief takers who patrolled London in the evenings. They also investigated crimes and presented evidence in court.

How did the bowstreet runners set up a national network of information on criminals, crime and stolen goods?

Their newspaper the hue and cry published related information. Magistrates and Gaolers from all over the country passed on the details, which created a national network of information.

What did people fear of the police force?

They would take away their freedom.

When were 90 prisons built?

Between 1842 and 1877.

What was the separate system?

When prisoners were kept apart nearly all of the time. Contact with other prisoners was made as difficult as possible. Were made t hold onto ropes knotted every 4.5 metres during excercise.

They were kept in their cells nearly 23 hours a day.

Walls were thick to stop communication. During exercise their faces were covered so they couldn't talk or communicate.

Given boring tasks such as picking oakum.

How was the separate system meant to reduce crime?

Increase self reflection and religious faith.

Stops communication between criminals.

Dettererence from committing crime.

How did the separate system impact mental health?

22 went mad, 26 had nervous breakdowns, 3 committed suicide - all withing the first 8 years.

Why was the silent system brought in?

Although the separate system was effective, the penny dreadful stirred up fear, causing turmoil. This lead people to believe it wasn’t harsh enough.

The public said the separate system was far too lenient and needed to be harsher.

People went back to origiona beliefs that criminals were a ‘type’ that can spotted.

Used 1830s-60s

What were the characteristics of the silent system?

Expected to be silent at all times, if they talked, they were whipped or put on a diet of only bread and water.

Hard wooden bunks replaces hammocks to sleep on known as ‘hardboard’.

Pointless jobs like ‘turning a crank’ which they could be expected to do 10,000 times a day, 8 hours a day.

Briefly describe pentonville prison.

Build in 1842, designed by joshua jebb, designed to reform as well as deter.

Held 520 prisoners.

Each cell had a small washing basin and toilet so rarely had t leave their cell.

Used the separate system.