18th and 19th Century Britain

• which crimes increased?

  -street theft

  -burglary

  -drunk and disorderly behaviour

  -prostitution

  -public disorder
• why did crimes increase?

  -people travelled more so communities were less tight knit

  -larger towns made it easier to escape

  -gangs increased

  -poverty led to a rise in survival crimes
• why did highway robbery increase?

  -improved roads meant more people travelled

  -increased trades meant more goods travelled by roads

  -isolated roads meant it was easier to get away with it
• who were famous highway men?

  Dick Turpin

  Tom King
• what was the 1723 Waltham Black Act?

  made poaching a capital crime and made it illegal to carry snares or own hunting dogs in a poaching area
• when were poaching laws repealed?

  1823
• what was a famous smuggling gang?

  Hawkhurst gang
• when did smuggling decrease?

  1840s as taxes were cut
• when were witchcraft laws repealed?

  Witchcraft Act of 1736
• why did witchcraft stop being a crime?

  -economic and social changes led to political stability

  -people became less superstitious

  -the Royal Society led to increased scientific experiments that could explain things previously thought to be witchcraft
• when was Tolpuddle Martyrs set up?

  1834
• who were the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

  a group of farm workers who formed a friendly society to protest about low wages

  farm owners and government felt they were losing control so the men were arrested for taking secret oaths
• what happened to the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

  sentenced to 7 years transportation to Australia to deter others forming trade unions

  mass protests and petition of 200,000 signatures against the punishment

  1836 they were pardoned
• what was the significance of the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

  -shows how governments protected interests of employers

  -authorities used laws to criminalise people they viewed as a threat
• who were 2 of the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

  James and George Loveless
• continuity of law enforcement

  watchmen

  parish constables

  soldiers
• when and who set up the Bow Street Runners?

  1749 by Henry and John Fielding
• what did the Bow Street Runners do?

  tracked down criminals and stolen property
• when were the Bow Street Runners paid by the government?

  1785
• what did the Bow street runners introduce?

  new methods of finding evidence

  became the first modern detectives
• what did the bow street runners also become?

  mounted patrols

  less successful as there wasn't enough to deal with increasing crime rate
• when was the Metropolitan Police act?

  1829
• what was the 1856 police act?

  made professional police forces compulsory across the whole country
• when was the criminal investigations department set up?

  1878
• when did transportation to America begin?

  1610
• how many capital crimes was there in 1810?

  222
• what were views towards punishment?

  -punishment should be equal to the crime

  -corporal and capital punishments were inhumane

  -punishment should be about rehabilitation
• when did transportation to Australia begin?

  1787
• why did transportation end?

  -Australia didn't want criminals on their land

  -some felt it was too expensive and not harsh enough but some felt it was too harsh

  -prisons were being built and increasingly used
• when did public executions end?

  1868
• what was the 1774 Gaol act?

  health and sanitation in prisons should be improved
• where did Elizabeth Fry visit?

  Newgate Prison 1813

  set up education classes to reform female prisoners

  got them better clothes food and treated prisoners with respect
• what was Pentonville prison known for?

  separate system
• why was the separate system a good punishment?

  -rehab: solitude allowed prisoners to reflect on their behaviour and the isolation meant they weren't influenced by others

  -retribution: isolation and boredom made them pay

  -deterrence: serious punishment
• what was strengths of the separate system?

  -clean and less disease

  -provided the right level of punishment
• what was weaknesses of the separate system?

  -isolation lead to mental illness and high suicide rate

  -no education to provide skills when they got out
• who was the home secretary?

  Robert Peel
• how many capital crimes did Robert Peel reduce?

  100
• what did Robert Peel want?

  -less harsh punishments for petty crime

  -reform petty criminals
• what was the 1823 Gaols Act?

  chaplains should regularly visit prisoners

  gaolers should be paid

  prisoners should not be put in chains