Crime and punishment timeline dates

Murdrum fine introduced for killing Normans

1070

Forest Laws set aside land for royal hunting

1072

William I crowned king

1066

Henry II reorganises courts and tries to limit church's power over crime and punishment

1150s-60s

Richard I introduces coroners to investigate suspicious deaths

1194

Church forbids trial by ordeal

1215

Justices of the peace appointed for all areas

1327

First printing press set up in England

1476

Vagabonds and Beggars Act

1494

Witchcraft act makes witchcraft punishable by death

1542

Elizabeth I act of uniformity - church compulsory

1559

Henry VIII declares himself head of Church of England

1534

Houses of correction set up in each county

1601

Transportation to North America begins

1615

Mathew Hopkins Witch Hunts

1645-47

Law lists 50 crimes punishable by death

1688

civil war

1642-51

Enlightenment- new emphasis on science and reason

1685-1815

Black Acts make poaching game punishable by death

1723

Witchcraft act defines witches as confidence tricksters

1735

Gunpowder Plot

1605

Poor law

1601

Fielding brothers set up Bow Street Runners

1748

John Howard published "The State of Prisons in England and Wales"

1777

Transportation to Australia begins

1778

Law lists 222 crimes punishable by death

1810

Elizabeth Fry begins visiting prisoners at Newgate

1813

Pentonville Prison opens

1842

Tolpuddle Martyrs

1833

Victoria crowned queen

1837

Robert Peel sets up Metropolitan Police

1829

Punishment of Death Act- reduces number of crimes punishable by death to 60

1832

transportation abolished

1857

All prisons brought under government authority

1877

Jack the Ripper murders

1888

WWI

1914-1918

Borstals introduced for young offenders

1900

Military Service Act- includes conscription

1916

WWII

1939-1945

Execution of minors ends

1933

Domestic Violence Act- domestic violence is a crime

1976

Execution of Derek Bentley

1953

Death penalty abolished for most crimes

1965

Sexual Offences Act- decriminalises homosexuality

1967

Racial and Religious Hatred act- makes racial abuse a crime

2006

Last reported case of highway robbery

1831

Statute of Labourers

1351

Assize of Clarendon

1166

JP power to arrest heretics

1414

Heresy punishment was burning at the stake

1401

First Black Death

1348

The peasants revolt

1381

Dissolution of monasteries

1536

End of benefit of clergy

1576

End of sanctuary

1623

National prison dept takes over all prisons

1850

End of public execution

1868

Open prisons introduced

1933

Probation introduced

1907

Misuse of drugs act

1971

Neighbourhood watch set up

1982