Crime And Punishment

• The thematic study of crime and punishment in Britain, c.1250-present spans over 1,000 years
• Understanding the period's chronology and knowing some key themes is essential to understanding patterns of change and continuity
• These contribute to change or continuity in crime and punishment over time and can each be observed and analysed
• Power, authority and influence in England, c.1000-present

  • The Church remained highly influential throughout Anglo-Saxon and medieval England
  • The kings gradually increased their role in crime and punishment in later medieval England
  • The Church continued to be influential in early modern England, where its influence continued until after the Reformation
  • After the Reformation in England, there were changes in the definition of crime
  • The increase in crimes against authority led to more severe punishments being used
  • Justices of the Peace (JPs) played a greater role in law enforcement
• Medieval England


  1. The Church's role in law enforcement

  2. Trial by ordeal

  3. Benefit of the clergy

  4. Responsibility of the tithing

  5. Hue and cry

  6. Humiliation by stocks or pillory

  7. Kings introduced new roles in law enforcement
• Early modern England


  1. Witchcraft became a crime

  2. Increase in crimes of heresy and treason

  3. Harsh punishment of vagabonds and growing distrust within communities

  4. Justices of the Peace (JPs) played a greater role in law enforcement

  5. Transportation and the Bloody Code were introduced
• The Industrial Revolution


  1. Increase in crimes like smuggling and poaching

  2. Introduction of the first centralised system of policing, the Bow Street Runners

  3. Abolition of the Bloody Code and transportation

  4. Campaigns for prisoner rehabilitation
• Modern Britain


  1. Changes in the definition of crime, including crimes associated with cars and race-related crimes

  2. Old crimes continued in new forms due to technological developments

  3. Changes in attitudes led to a focus on tackling the causes of crime and reforming criminals

  4. Abolition of the death penalty

  5. Introduction of non-custodial punishments

  6. Changes to policing due to increased government responsibility and technological developments

  7. Women began taking on roles in policing
• There have been certain turning points that have changed the definition of crime and the punishments used for criminals, and have also caused rapid progress in our enforcement of the law
• Nature and main types of crime in Anglo-Saxon England

  • Crime against person
  • Crime against property
  • Crime against authority
• Crimes after the 1066 Norman Conquest


  • Crimes against the King, not the individual
  • Poaching
  • Outlaws
• Crimes under later medieval kings

  • More crime in bigger towns
  • Statute of Labourers
  • Heresy laws
  • High Treason
• Law enforcement in Anglo-Saxon England


  • Trial by Ordeal
  • Jury
  • Religious beliefs
  • Hue and cry
  • Tithings
  • Collective Responsibility
• Law enforcement after the 1066 Norman Conquest


  • Castles
  • Feudal system
  • Poaching
  • Murdrum fine
  • Tithings
  • Hue and Cry
  • Forest Laws
  • Trial by Combat
  • Fewer equal rights for women
  • Church courts
• Law enforcement under later medieval kings


  • Justices of the Peace appointed by the king
  • King more in control
  • More centralised
  • Wards
  • Parish Constables
  • Sheriffs
  • Church and Royal courts
  • Coroners
• Punishments in Anglo-Saxon England

  • Fines called 'Wergild'
  • Corporal punishment
  • Deterrents
  • Retribution
  • Prison before trial
  • Hanging
  • Burning
• Punishments after the 1066 Norman Conquest


  • Increased capital punishment for serious crimes and poaching
  • Court records in Latin
  • Ended 'Wirgild'
  • Branding
• Punishments under later medieval kings

  • Fines
  • Stocks
  • Pillory
  • Corporal punishments
  • Execution
  • High Treason=hung, drawn and quartered
  • Deterrents
• Nature and main types of crime in Early Modern England

  • Development in: Heresy (Heretics) and treason due to the Reformation
  • New definitions: Vagabondage and Witchcraft
  • The rise of smuggling
  • Influence of Puritan Oliver Cromwell
• Law enforcement in Early Modern England

  • Continued use of: hue and cry, local responsibility with local courts, Parish constables, Justices of the Peace
  • Introduction of: Royal Judges visiting local areas for serious crimes, Arrest warrants for citizens, Use of the Tower of London for Heretics, Town watchmen or constables, Night watchmen, Thief takers, Laws for Vagabonds and Witchcraft, Habeas Corpus (1679)
• Punishments in Early Modern England

  • Continued use of: Retribution and deterrence, Corporal/capital punishment, hanging, fines, burning at the stake for heresy, Recantation, Excommunication, The pillory, Whipping, Prisons before trial
  • Introduction of: Transportation, Early prisons, The 'Bloody Code', Start of a theory of rehabilitation, Houses of Correction, Carting, Women labelled as 'scolds' ducked in a river
• Nature and main types of crime in c.1700 and c.1900

  • Continuity and development of definitions: Poaching, smuggling, Highway Robbery, Smuggling
  • New Definitions: Smuggling
  • Ending of: Witchcraft
  • The Tolpuddle Martyrs
• Law enforcement in c.1700 and c.1900

  • The Fielding Brothers and The Bow Street Runners 1748
  • Development of the police force in 1829 and CID 1842, 1856 Police Act
  • Belief in Humanitarianism
• Punishments in c.1700 and c.1900

  • The end of: transportation, public execution and the Bloody Code, Fewer people hanged
  • Introduction of: Prison ships, Increased use of a prison for punishment, Solitary Confinement, Prison Reform – John Howard and Elizabeth Fry, The 'Black Act', Death Act, Holloway Prison for women
• Nature and main types of crime in c.1900 to the present day

  • New and developing definitions: Theft and smuggling, Driving offences, race and hate crimes, Homophobic Crime, Drugs crime, Domestic Violence, Abortion Law changes, Terrorism, People Trafficking, Cybercrime, Fraud, Copyright, Extortion
• Law enforcement in c.1900 to the present day

  • A move towards crime prevention, Neighbourhood Watch, Specialisation in the police force - Fraud Squad, drug units, dog handling units, special branch, Police Training College (1947)
  • Impact of Science and Technology: Speed Cameras, CCTV, Biometric Screening, transport, DNA database, finger printing, PNC Checks, computers, Blood types, photography and forensics
  • The Criminal Justice Act 2005
• Punishments in c.1900 to the present day

  • Abolition of the Death Penalty
  • Changes to Prisons – open prisons and specialist treatment of young offenders
  • Non-custodial alternatives to prison – ASBO, Community Service, treatment programmes, tagging
  • Age of Criminal Responsibility increased
• Changes to Australia because of American Independence

  1776
• Transportation abolished


  1857
• Gaol Act. Influenced by the ideas of John Howard. Improved food and paid prison guards


  1774
• Elizabeth Fry


  • Campaigned for improved conditions at Newgate Prison. Trained women in sewing and introduced church services very Sunday
• Gaol Act Robert Peel was influenced by Howard and Fry. Separated men, women and children into different prisons and appointed prison inspectors


  1823
• Pentonville prison. Built on Howards idea of separate system and useful work. Each prisoner had their own cell and was trained in a job e.g. weaving


  1842
• Increased crime led to harsher prisons and the silent system with hard labour. Prisoners silent at all times and completed pointless work like treadmill, the crank and picking oakum


  1860
• Humiliation and corporal punishments abolished (except in prisons)

  1830s
• Last public execution


  1868
• Poaching


  • Increased dramatically because of increasing population
  • Sometimes with poaching gangs working on a large scale
• The Black Act made poaching a capital crime. Owning dogs in certain areas was also punishable by death


  1723
• Many poaching laws were repealed


  1823
• Witchcraft laws repealed


  1736