18th & 19th Century Britain

• Changing living conditions, the rising population in towns and the greater ability to travel had an impact on crime.
• Highway robbery

  This type of crime was a huge threat to the authorities as it was a cause of disruption to trade.
• Highwaymen

  Demobilised soldiers were returning from foreign wars and being jobless in many cases resorted to highway robbery to steal goods for resale.

  Horses and weapons had become much cheaper to obtain and increasing numbers of businessmen were travelling around the country.
• Which new crime in the industrial period disrupted trade on roads?

  Highway robbery
• Impact of toll roads on highway robbery

  The creation of toll roads, better roads which you paid to travel on, had the effect of making travel much easier.

  Businessmen travelling around to complete transactions also carried large amounts of cash and expensive items making them an easy target.
• What had become cheaper in the industrial period, leading to more highway robberies?

  Horses & weapons
• Laws on poaching

  Only landowners with land over the value of £100 were allowed to hunt on their land. If your land was valued at less or you had tenant farmers then hunting was forbidden.
• The 1723 Black Act

  The 1723 Black Act made hunting deer, hare or rabbits a capital crime. Therefore, if you were found out at night armed, disguised or with a blackened face then you would have been prosecuted for poaching.
• Implications of the Black Act

  Poaching was not a new crime but it was widely tolerated. This meant that it was having an impact on rich landowners who did not wish people to be accessing their land and hunting their animals.
• When was the Black Act passed, which made hunting deer, hare or rabbits a capital crime?

  1723
• The crime of poaching

  Gamekeepers were often employed to protect land, but this sometimes led to violence as poachers would often attack them. Villagers would then provide an alibi for those accused, which again evidences attitudes towards this crime.
• Poachers and the black market

  Many poachers would sell their haul on the black market as you could make significantly more money selling their catch than working as a labourer for the day.
• Who were employed to protect land from poachers?

  Gamekeepers
• Smuggling

  This crime took place in the coastal areas of England where smugglers brought tea, wine, cloth and spirits into the country, avoiding the payment of tax on the goods.

  Often smugglers were ruthless and would happily resort to violence to ensure goods could enter the country.
• The issue of smuggling

  Tax and duties was an important source of income for the government so as a result smuggling was a crime that had a great income on the authorities.
• Where would poachers sell their game in industrial Britain?

  Black market
• Smugglers

  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.
• Communities and Smuggling

  Many towns and villages turned a blind eye to smuggling as they often gained benefit from it and most did not agree with the payment of taxes and duties on goods.
• Often smuggling gangs would be 50−100 strong and as a result, would drastically outnumber any customs officials sent to try and stop them.
• What items were smuggled into Britain during the industrial period?

  • Tea
  • Cloth
  • Spirits
• Why did local communities agree to turn a blind eye to smuggling?

  • They disagreed with the taxes and duties on goods
  • They gained benefit from smuggling
• Prison became the main method of punishment during the Industrial Period and as a result it saw huge changes.
• The prison system

  The prison system at the beginning of the Industrial Period was basic. Everyone was housed together; men, women, children, debtors and lunatics - regardless of the crime committed.
• The prison system at the beginning of the period

  Prison warders were unpaid and earned money by charging the inmates fees for their cell, food, clothing and their release.
• Conditions in prisons

  The poor relied on charities to pay their prison fees whilst the richer inmates could afford a single cell. Prison was damp, dirty and a hotbed of criminal instruction which made it a very dangerous place to be.
• Who did poor prison inmates rely on to pay their prison fees during the industrial period?

  Charities
• John Howard

  John Howard (1726 - 1790) inspected prisons in Bedfordshire and wrote a report in 1777 about the general state of prisons.
• John Howards’s report

  He made a number of proposals about changes to the system including:

  • Better accommodation.
  • Changes to the fees.
  • Improving diet.
  • Paying prison guards.
• Who wrote a report on the prison system based on his experience in Bedfordshire in 1777?

  John Howard
• Elizabeth Fry

  Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) was a Quaker with strong religious views and her belief that everyone had some good in them led her to try to further reform prisoners.
• Elizabeth Fry and Newgate Prison

  Fry visited Newgate Prison in London and was horrified to find inmates kept altogether regardless of crime. She aimed to deal with this and the exploitation of female prisoners by male guards. Fry established a school for children in Newgate Prison and set about teaching them useful work so they could get work when they left prison and avoid reoffending.
• What type of Christian was Elizabeth Fry?

  A Quaker
• The separate and silent systems


  The 1830s saw the introduction of the separate system. The main principle was that inmates were kept in solitary confinement, contact with others was limited and the main aim was to reform prisoners by expecting them to complete useful work.
• Changing attitudes to retribution

  The 1860s saw attitudes move from reform back to retribution. Prisoners in the silent system were expected to remain silent at all times.
• Silent system prisons

  Beds were replaced with harsh wooden bunks and better food was replaced with hard fare, which was a basic monotonous diet.

  Hard labour was also a feature, where prisoners would complete daily pointless tasks, like turning a crank, walking a treadmill or sometimes oakum picking.
• In which decade did the separate system begin to be promoted in prisons in Britain?

  1830s