industrial period

• What decision by government reduced the amount of smuggling in the late 1700s?


  Reduce import duties
• Poaching and smuggling were both regarded as social crimes.
• Give one reason for the rise of highway robbery and one reason for its decline.


  Rise - unemployed soldiers. Fall - patrols
• Fielding brothers - set up the Bow Street Runners in 1748.
• 1829 - Robert Peel persuaded parliament to pass the Metropolitan police act and set up the first police force.
• Pentonville - Built in 1842 to accommodate the 'separate system' of punishment.
• Britain experienced significant change during the process of industrialisation. Most importantly, because of mass urbanisation.
• This part of the course covers the 18th and 19th century.
• The Tolpuddle Martyrs reflect how the law was not adapted to meet the changing dynamics in industrial society.
• The Tolpuddle Martyrs were a group of laborers led by George Loveless.
• Two aims of the Tolpuddle Martyrs: improve wages, improve working conditions.
• The Bloody Code ended in the 1820s.
• In 1750 there were 9.5 million people living mainly in villages, but by 1900 the population had risen to 41.5 million and people mainly lived in towns and cities.
• Many jobs had been created due to the process of industrialisation.
• During the industrial period prisons became the most common punishment, focusing more on reform and less on deterrence.
• Highway robbery was a huge threat to authorities as it was a cause of disruption to trade.
• Smuggling attracted all sorts of people as it was a good source of additional income and also resulted in you having access to a number of luxury items.
• In the 1700s, 40% of those sentenced to death were actually hanged. By the 1800s this figure had dropped to 10% being executed, despite there being a rise in crime.
• The transportation of convicts to American Colonies ended in 1775 when America secured their independence, meaning that an alternative location needed to be found. Australia had been discovered by Captain James Cook and this looked like a viable alternative.
• • Robert Peel was appointed as the Home Secretary in 1822. His main aim was to improve life for people by reducing crime.
• Developments in the Metropolitan Police

  • In 1842, the first Detective Force was established.
  • They aimed to gather evidence to solve crimes.
  • By 1856, it was compulsory for all towns and counties to set up their own police force.
  • In 1878 the Criminal Investigation Department was established.
  • This reorganised the existing detective force.
  • By 1884 there were 200 separate police forces in Britain employing 39,000 police officers.
• The Bow Street Runners

  • They established the Bow Street Runners in 1749, a group of men that patrolled the streets of London in the evening.
  • This was a more organised way of catching criminals but there was no coordination between groups of law enforcement. 
  • The runners introduced a Horse Patrol which virtually eliminated Highway Robbery.
  • Furthermore, they had a newspaper called the Hue and Cry where they published the names and details of criminals in an attempt to get the public help to catch them.
• The Fielding Brothers

  • Henry and John Fielding were magistrates who tried to improve policing in London. 
  • They worked at Bow Magistrates Court in 1748 and decided that if there were more men on the streets they would be able to reduce crime.
• In the 18th and 19th centuries, law enforcement became organised, officers were trained and wore a uniform with the aim to catch criminals and, later, prevent crime from taking place.
• The building of Pentonville Prison was a turning point in the use of prisons as it aimed to reform its inmates rather than just being designed to deter as prisons had been previously.
• • Pentonville was designed with a central area and the prison wings were spokes from the centre so that there could be fewer guards required to run the prison.
• • The prison was based on the principle of the separate system, where prisoners spent the majority of their time alone and in their cells, in order to keep them away from the influence of other criminals. The separate system was effective in isolating prisoners but it also led to many going mad, nervous breakdowns and even suicide amongst inmates.
• • Prisoners exercised in the yard wearing masks to avoid them being able to communicate with others. Religious instruction was a large part of life in Pentonville and the chapel was constructed with boxes for inmates to sit in whilst in Church to again avoid contact with others.
• 1823 - The Gaols Act applied to the 130 biggest prisons in the country and had a number of key principles. The main principle behind Peel's ideas was to reform prisoners and make them less likely to reoffend once they were released.
• Poor harvests had less of an impact on people in the 18th and 19th centuries because food could be imported from other countries. Fears of vagabonds and witches, which had previously been inflamed by feelings of insecurity during times of poor harvest, reduced significantly.
• • The Tolpuddle martyrs were a group of farm labourers led by George Loveless.
  • Unhappy with their wages they were trying to improve them and their working conditions.
• The Bow Street Runners

  • They established the Bow Street Runners in 1749, a group of men that patrolled the streets of London in the evening.
  • This was a more organised way of catching criminals but there was no coordination between groups of law enforcement.
  • The runners introduced a Horse Patrol which virtually eliminated Highway Robbery.
  • Furthermore, they had a newspaper called the Hue and Cry where they published the names and details of criminals in an attempt to get the public help to catch them.