Industrial (1700-1900)

What was smuggling?

Bringing things like tobacco, spirits, tea etc in illegally to the country without paying tax.

Why did smuggling increase in the 17th and 18th Century?

• Even higher tariffs (import taxes) meant smugglers made a large profit by not paying the tax and selling them

• Social crime - lots of people benefitted so very hard to catch people, as others wouldn’t testify and would often give the smugglers alibis

• Large gangs of smugglers, such as the Hawkhurst Gang, which smuggled huge volumes of goods between 1735 to 1749 across the south coast- very hard to catch because of such as wide stretch of land

Why did smuggling change?

Pitt (Prime Minister) lowered taxes 1780s, and were then again lowered later in the 1840s so no longer worth the risk.

What led to an increase in minor crimes like petty theft, prostitution, and drunk and disorderly behaviour between 1700-1850

• People travelling more and moving into towns meant that fewer people knew each other and communities were less tightly knit and more anonymity

• Larger towns that made it easier to escape being caught

• Some criminals became ‘professional’ within dens or gangs of thieves

• Extreme poverty that led to a rise in ‘survival’ crimes, such as stealing food.

What was Highway robbery?

Attacking travellers on the highway and stealing from them

Why did Highway robbery increase?

• More trade between towns meant more money and goods transported, and more people on the roads.

• No banks so had to keep large amounts on money with you.

• Opportunity - better roads meant more travel,

• Isolated in the countryside, easier to rob and get away

Give an example of a famous Highwayman

Dick Turpin
Jack Sheppard
Black Harry

How and when did Highway robbery decrease

• In 1772, to try to reduce highway robbery, it became a capital crime to be armed and in disguise on a high road

• Mounted patrols on major roads and the growth of the railways helped reduce instances of highway robbery

• Completely disappeared by 1830s

What happened to witchcraft accusations

• Declined after the civil war

• All laws surrounding witchcraft were repealed by the 1736 Witchcraft Act

• People who claimed to be witches were fined or imprisoned

Why did witchcraft accusations decline

• Economic and social changes led to more prosperity and political stability.

• Some still believed in witches and the Devil, but others (especially the educated) became less superstitious.

• The Royal Society, set up by Charles II in 1660, led to increased scientific experiments, which explained things previously thought to be the work of witches. Period of enlightenment- 1685-1815

What was the 1723 Black Act?

• Introduced when poaching rose in the 18th century because of poaching gangs

• Law to stop poaching -
  Illegal to blacken your face in hunting area
  Illegal to own dogs in hunting area
  All of the above could lead to execution.

• Later repealed in 1823 by Peel

Who were the Tolpuddle Martyrs 1834?

• Agricultural labourers from Dorset, tried to form a union and protest to get higher wages.

• Farm owners and gov feared losing control of the farm workers so arrested them for swearing a secret oath- an old law to prevent Naval Mutinies

• Mass protest 200,000 signed petition to protest the harsh punishment

• Transported to Australia as the government saw them as a threat.

• Pardoned in 1836 after protests continued

What was the significance of the Tolpuddle Martyrs

• The incident highlights how authorities used laws to criminalise people they viewed as a threat.

• It shows how the government would protect the interests of employers at the expense of workers.

• The pardoning of the martyrs illustrates the impact of public opinion.

• The martyrs inspired some to fight for workers’ rights but others were put off by how the martyrs were treated

What was Transportation?

Sending criminals (convicts) to firstly America (1610) and then Australia (1787)after the USA got its independence.
Alternative to execution.
Between 1787 and 1868 160,000 transported

Why was Transportation used?

Deterrence - went for life - very rarely returned.
Retribution - pay back society through hard labour.
Rehabilitation? A bit - chance of a new life.
Because the government needed people to establish the colonies.

Why did Transportation end 1868?

• Australia no longer needed forced labourers (the discovery of gold made it an attractive place to go) and it didn’t want ‘criminals’.- Australia had become established as a colony by this point, so they didn't need more people

• Some felt it was too expensive (cost gov half a million every year) and not a strong enough deterrent to crime. Others felt it was too harsh for both the criminals and their families.

• More prisons had been built and prisons were increasingly used instead of transportation

Why did Public Executions end 1868?

• On its way out from 1820s after the end of the Bloody Code (Peel)- use reasons from bloody code

• Increased crime on the day - pickpockets and drunks- seen as a good day out.

• Other methods of punishment now used like prisons

Why did the Bloody Code end in 1825

• Didn’t work- pious perjury and pleading for the belly

• Robert Peel- declined the death penalty, brought her punishments like prison and transportation. Punishment of Death Act 1832 lowers number of capital crimes to 60

• New ideas about rehabilitation, thought to be too harsh

Why were Prisons reformed in the 19th Century?

• They were being more used as an alternative to execution and transportation.

• Individuals - Elizabeth Fry began visiting women in Newgate Prison in 1813. She set up education classes to reform female prisoners. She also got them better food and clothes, and treated prisoners with kindness and respect

  John Howard’s work led to the 1774 Gaol Act, which suggested how health and sanitation in prisons could be improved..

• The government - Peel changed the law - Gaols Act 1823 - began vistsits by chaplains, salaries for gaolers, banned irons and manacles, allowed women wardens for women’s prisons

  Prisons Act 1835 appointed prison inspectors and gave prisons financial assistance from the treasury.

  1850 National Prison Department- control over prison system

  1865 Prison Act meant hard labour, hard fare, hard board

  1877 the government in charge of all prisons.

Why in the period 1700-1900 did law enforcement need to change?

Growth in towns - eg London population of 5 million by 19th century.
Parish Constables and Watchmen didn't work.

Who were the Bow Street Runners?

• Established in London in 1749 by Henry Fielding, Chief Magistrate at Bow Street Court, to try to tackle the huge crime wave of 17th-century London.

• Fielding’s half-brother, John, took over in 1754.

• At first they charged fees and collected rewards, but by 1785 they were paid by the government

• Introduced new methods of finding evidence to bring criminals to justice – the first modern ‘detectives

• Branched out to patrolling major roads both on foot and horse (mounted patrols). The patrols were less successful than the detecting side, as there were not enough of them to deal with the dramatically increasing crime rate.

• Shared information on crimes and suspects with others – the beginnings of a crime intelligence network

How did the police force develop

• 1822- Peel set up a parliamentary committee to look into the issue of policing London, which helped him come up with the idea of a centralised police force across the whole city. The crime wave resulting from the economic downturn in 1826 helped Peel get the act through parliament

• 1829 Metropolitan Police Act – began Britain’s first professional police force in London

• 1835 Municipal Corporations Act – borough councils could set up police forces in their area (but only around half did so)

• 1839 Rural Constabulary Act – counties could set up police forces, which two-thirds of the counties did.

• 1842 Detective department set up at the Metropolitan Police Force headquarters in London

• 1856 Police Act – forced all towns and counties to set up a professional police force.

• 1878 Criminal Investigations Department (CID) set up for the Metropolitan Police Force

Why was the creation of the Metropolitan Police Force (Met) in 1829 a turning point?

First professional police force set up by Peel.
Organised in divisions
Well organised and trained
Every other reform is based on this model.

What was the significance of the Police Act 1856

• This act made professional police forces, which were based on the model of the Metropolitan Police, compulsory across the whole country.

• All forces were funded by the government and were regularly inspected by officials employed by the government.

• Police officers were not only tasked with keeping law and order, preventing crime through patrolling the streets and arresting criminals, but were to detect criminals after crimes had been committed.

• The aim of all activities was to deter crime.

What were the Met Police

• The central aim was to prevent crime and disorder and to be totally impartial and objective.

• Members were usually unarmed and were trained to use minimum physical force only as a last resort.

• Recruits carefully selected and well trained. It was a full-time and fairly well-paid job

• Focused on patrolling areas where crime was high. Successfully reduced street crime and disorder

• Members had a uniform so they could be identified (and didn’t look like soldiers).

• Not popular at first, but soon recognised by the public as being honest and trustworthy
  

What was Pentonville prison 1842?

• New design - prison wings, separate cells, separate system

• Better condition - heating and running water.

• Thick walls prisoners couldn't communicate.

• Oscar Wilde was put in here- went insane

• 23 hours a day in cell, 1 hour outside with blindfold

• Emphasised retribution and deterrence, but separate system also aimed to reform

• Hard labour- turning the crank; Hard fare- boring, confined; Hard board- slept on wooden boards, harsh but hygienic conditions

What was the separate system in Pentonville?

• Prisoners prevented from communicating with each other.

• Individual cells- different from previous large groups cells

• Wore masks when out of the cells. - Couldn't learn bad ways from other criminals.

• Hard labour - turning the crank.

• Treatment worse late 19th century 'Hard labour, hard fare, hard board' after 1865 Prisons Act

• Elizabeth Fry concerned about the separate system

• Solitude aimed to allow for thought, religious time