crime and punishment industrial period

• What was the Waltham Black Act? 


  The Waltham Black Act in 1723 established the system known as the Bloody Code which imposed the death penalty for over 200 crimes. 

  Its aim was deterrence.
• Name a famous smuggling gang who operated in the industrial period

  The Hawkhurst Gang
• Why did smuggling activity increase in the industrial period?

  The government introduced higher taxes on goods such as cloth, wine and spirits
• What does it mean when smuggling and poaching were described as ‘social crimes’?

  Many people benefitted from these crimes and so did not see these crimes as a serious wrongdoing
• What was the crime of highway robbery?

  Threatening or attacking travellers and forcing them to hand over their valuable possessions
• Give three reasons why highway robbery increased in the industrial period

  • Trading between places meant ordinary people could be carrying large sums of cash 
  • There were still many isolated country roads in rural areas 

  The Turnpike trusts improved the quality of roads which meant more people were travelling longer distances by carriage
• Give three reasons why highway robbery was treated as a serious crime

  • It disrupted travel between towns 
  • The crimes were committed on the ‘king’s highway’ 
  • It could disrupt the postal services
• What was the punishment for highway robbery in 1772?

  The death penalty
• What happened to the crime of witchcraft in the industrial period?

  1736 - King George II passed a law which decriminalised witchcraft
• What happened to the Tolpuddle martyrs in 1834?

  They were accused of ‘administering an illegal oath’ and forming an early trade union
• Who was the main leader of the martyrs?

  George Loveless
• What punishment did the Tolpuddle martyrs receive?


  Transportation to Australia. They were pardoned after 4 years and allowed to return to England
• Give three reasons why the death penalty declined toward the end of the industrial period

  • Death penalty seen as inhumane 
  • Hanging not seen as an effective deterrent 

  Alternative punishments such as transportation were available
• Where were people transported to after 1783?

  Australia (after America gained independence) 
• When did transportation end?

  1863 
• Name two prison reformers

  Elizabeth Fry and John Howard
• Who set up the Bow Street Runners


  The Fielding Brothers in 1748
• What did the Bow Street Runners want to achieve?


  They wanted a more effective and professional approach to policing
• When was the Metropolitan Police force set up?

  1829 by Sir Robert Peel
• What was the significance of the 1856 Police Act?


  It meant that all areas in the country had to have a professional police force that was centrally controlled by the government
• What was the CID?


  The Criminal Investigation Department, set up in 1878. A detective branch of the police
• When was Pentonville prison set up?

  1842
• What system did Pentonville prison use?

  The separate system
• Provide 3 specific details about Pentonville prison

  • The cells had a floor area of just 4m by 2m 
  • The building had five wings 

  The building’s walls were thick to stop
• Give two features of the 1823 Gaols Act


  • Female prisoners should be watched over by female wardens 

  Prisoners were not to be held in chains or irons
•  Provide two criticisms which the new Metropolitan police force faced

  • Concerns about the increase costs to the taxpayer
  • Concerns that they were ‘government in uniform’ and might limit individual freedoms