industrial period

• poaching

  • individuals trying to feed families
  • organised gangs formed to kill and sell animals
  • Black Act 1723- made poaching a capital crime
  • law repealed in 1823 by Robert peels reforms
• smuggling

  • crime increased as taxes had been placed on more goods.
  • authorities struggled to stop smugglers as it happened at night
  • smuggling decreased by late 18th century because government had reduced taxes on goods and watchtowers were built in the 1820s
• reasons for highway robbery

  • people carried lots of money around as the banking system wasnt developed
  • towns often spaced apart so people went on long roads and got robbed
  • people started use carriages more
• why highway robbery decreased in the 1830s


  there were more partols and tolls were introduced making it harder for highway robbering to take place
• when was the black act

  1723
• witchcraft

  in the late 17th century there was a decline of accusations and prosecutions for witchcraft as more scientific evidence questions witchcraft. john holt acquitted several people accused of witchcraft.
• Witchcraft act

  1736- stated witchcraft is not real and anyone who claims to have powers were punished by a fine or time in prison
• tolpuddle martyrs

  • 1833- 6 farm workers formed a trade union as they were angry about their wages.
  • they had to swear an other of solidarity and pay a subscription to be part of a union.
  • authorities and landowners wanted to stop the group but as it was not a crime they couldn't do anything
  • 1834- tolpuddle martyrs charged with swearing a secret oath and were sentenced to 7 years of transportation in Australia
• how many people sign for the release of the tolpuddle martyrs

  200,000
• how many people formed a demonstration near kings cross in 1834

  100,000
• what year did the toldpuddle martyrs return home

  1836
• what happened in 1861

  capital punishment was abolished as a sentence for all but most serious crimes
• what was the bloody code

  the british legal system in the 17th-19th century where most crimes led to the death penalty
• what happened in 1868


  the last public execution
• when was transportation to america common

  1718
• when were convicts no longer sent to america

  1776
• when were convicts sent to australia

  1787
• when did transportation decrease

  1840s
• when were the last convicts sent to australia

  1868
• what were the 3 main reasons for changing views of punishment

  1. bloody code abolished
  2. alternative punishment
  3. public execution changed
• why did juries not like convicting the death penalty

  1. juries were reluctant
  2. goes against gods law
  3. prisons and transportation were alternatives
• in the 18th and early 19th century, prisons were privately owned and badly run
• 3 features of prisons in the 18th and early 19th century

  1. dark, dirty and damp, easily spread disease
  2. prisoners pay for food and to be released
  3. different types of criminals were locked up together
• what did john howard do

  he visited prisons around the country to study prisoners poor living conditions, later prompting the parliament to bring 2 new laws into place,

  • ended the jailers fee
  • improve prison conditions
• what did elizabeth fry do

  wanting to help female prisoners, she wanted to improve living conditions for women and young children in prisons. she campaigned to have male and female prisons separate from one and another. she introduced female jailers and the introduction of paid jobs for prisoners to earn money
• what were the 3 reasons for punishment that were up to debate at the time

  1. deter
  2. rehabilitate
  3. reform
• what were the 3 main reasons for the prison reform

  1. they werent commonly used before the late 1700s
  2. efforts to improve conditions in prisons
  3. debate about punishment
• in the 1750s there was a rapid increase of population in britain
• 3 challenges against crime

  1. too overcrowded, crimes easy to get away with
  2. more people became wealthy so more money and property for criminals to steal
  3. lots of poverty so steal to earn money
• before the mid 18th century it was local responsibility to apply law and order
• reforms were introduced to try and make night watchmen more effective, it didnt work
• the fielding brother set up the bow-street runners in 1749
• the bow street runners were thief takers who were sent out once a crime had been committed
• in 1785, the government paid for the bow street runners
• the bow street runners published a newsletter called the hue and cry which named and described criminals to make it easier to capture them
• in 1829, robert peel introduced the metropolitan police force to oversee law and order in london
• the metropolitan police patrolled in organised beats to deter and catch criminals
• in 1842, the metropolitan police set up a detective department and in 1878, they changed their name to the criminal investigation department (CID)
• what were 3 reasons for the development of police force

  1. urbanisation meant a better police force was needed
  2. the fielding brothers set up the bow-street runners
  3. the metropolitan police force were a professional police force