Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Britain (1700-1900)

Question 1

What was Pious Perjury?

Answer 1

When the jury would go against their oath when deciding punishment for insignificant crimes (would not come to a verdict that would match the harsh laws under the Bloody Code)

Question 2

What was highway robbery?

Answer 2

• Highway robbery was a form of crime where people wearing masks would approach people on horses on major routes into cities and force them to give up valuables, often at gunpoint. These would then be sold by the highway robbers to make money.

Question 3

What initially caused highway robbery to rise?

Answer 3

• Improved roads
• Handguns and horses were easy to obtain
• Stagecoaches, a place where travellers rested and changed horses, became an easy place for highway robbers to target

Question 4

What caused highway robbery to decline?

Answer 4

• Mounted horse patrols on roads
• Death penalty
• Banking became more sophisticated, so there was no need to carry large amounts of cash or valuables
• Taverns (pubs or inns) that highwaymen traded in were refused to be licensed by the government, so taverns grew a resentment towards highway robbers trading on their property

Question 5

Why was the Bloody Code introduced even as recorded crime decreased?

Answer 5

• Concerns about crime due to publicity leaflets
• Ease of movement, easier to move to big towns and commit unnoticed crimes
• Growth of towns made policing (hue and cry) much more difficult
• Continued belief in deterrence as a method of solving crime

Question 6

What was poaching and why did people carry it out?

Answer 6

• Poaching is the act of killing wild animals, up until 1723 it was tolerated although illegal; poaching included being on your own property

Why did people carry out poaching:
- For the rich, poaching was just a hobby, and they were exempt from the law if their land made more than £100 a year
- For the poor, poaching was a source of food and extra income
- Criminal poachers could make a large profit from poaching when selling on the black market

Question 7

Why did poaching carry such a harsh punishment (possibility of the death penalty)?

Answer 7

The government believed that:
- Poaching was just entertainment and unnecessary killing
- People made profit from wrongfully killing animals, this was deemed immoral
- Poachers were violent and often assaulted gamekeepers, who were in charge of reporting poaching whilst maintaining grounds
- People should not easily get away with breaking the law

Question 8

What was smuggling and how was it carried out in the 18th Century?

Answer 8

Smuggling is the act of bringing things into the country against the law, without import tax.

Items that were smuggled included tea, cloth, wine and spirits (all expensive items). Smugglers carried out work in large gangs which were well-organised, each member had the motivation of gaining extra income.

Question 9

How did the government try to punish smuggling and why were they unable to control smuggling levels?

Answer 9

Smuggling was taken seriously as import taxes were the government’s main source of income, therefore it carried the death penalty

However, the government were not able to control the levels of smuggling, because:
- The public were afraid of smugglers (travelled in gangs), therefore they did not interfere
- Smugglers made items cheaper for the public and so the public did not complain
- There were very few customs officers and the government could not afford more
- Large and well organised gangs

Question 10

What were the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

Answer 10

• Life in the countryside in the early 19th Century was not desirable due to enclosures, therefore many peasants were struggling to fund their families
• In 1833, wages were cut from 8 shillings a week to 7 shillings, which were starvation rates. There were only a few rich landowners controlling an entire village.
• George Loveless and 5 friends planned to form a union against the unfair wages, but were arrested and their wages were reduced further
• The 6 workers had sworn an oath of secrecy and support. An old military rule was twisted by the government to rule this illegal, and the labourers were sentenced to 7 years transportation to Australia
• There was widespread outcry, a petition was signed by 250,000 people and a pardon was granted in 1836
• However, trade unions were badly hit, workers were too scared to be part of them and they took many years to recover

Question 11

Why were the Tolpuddle Martyrs punished so harshly?

Answer 11

In 1789, the French Revolution was carried out in France, where the French monarchy was overthrown.

The British government became terrified of the same thing happening in Britain, and fearful landowners and politicians viewed every protest as a potential uprising or riot.

Question 12

What were the four problem crimes?

Answer 12

• Highway robbery
• Poaching
• Smuggling
• Protests/Trade unions

Question 13

How did society change in the industrial period?

Answer 13

• Population reached 41.5 million, and was concentrated in towns
• Most employment was found in workshops and factories
• Nearly all men could vote
• There was a growing acceptance of government involvement in certain issues
• People started to believe that improving education and working conditions might encourage better behaviour, and that criminals were a ‘separate lower class’

Question 14

Why was the Bloody Code abolished despite rising crime and fear of crime, and who was a key individual in its abolition?

Answer 14

Sir Robert Peel was the Home Secretary and was responsible for law and order. He played a vital role in the abolition of the Bloody Code, due to his powerful political position.

The Bloody Code was abolished for three main reasons:
- Public executions: There was a danger they could be used for public protests if the convicted crime was minor and criminals could also escape with larger crowds
- Enlightenment: The idea that humans could be educated and reformed became much more popular, people believed more humane punishments should be given out
- Alternative punishments became available such as transportation and prisons

The abolition of nearly all capital crimes apart from murder and treason took place from the 1820s to 30s.

Question 15

What were the initial advantages of transportation, and why was it later ended?

Answer 15

The initial advantages of transportation were that:
- Juries were more likely to convict as it was not deemed too harsh, although still a deterrent
- Removes criminals from British streets
- Secure British imperial claims, so Britain could claim Australia as their island
- Reform criminals

Transportation was ended in 1857 because:
- Land in Australia became easier to farm, not much of a deterrent
- Australian settlers did not want prisoners dumped there
- With the development of prisons, there was less need for transportation

Question 16

What purposes were prisons originally used for?

Answer 16

• Remand for pending trial, not punishment
• Debt: People were put in prison and were only released when debts were paid

Question 17

What were the problems with the Old Prison System?

Answer 17

• All prisoners were housed together, therefore repeated offenders could teach first time offenders, and could influence children
• Overcrowding and poor living conditions caused gaol fever, many died as a result
• Debt prisoners could not pay off debts
• Prison warders received wages from prison fees, so most likely favoured the richer inmates
• Large inequality: people could pay to be placed in better conditions

Question 18

What reforms were introduced in the 1823 Gaols Act, passed by Sir Robert Peel?

Answer 18

• Male and female prisoners were separated, women had female warders. Prisoners were also separated into groups of first time offenders and repeated offenders
• All prisoners would have proper food, fresh water, sufficient drainage and would be checked up on by magistrates
• Prison warders would be paid and would not rely on prison fees
• All prisoners would attend chapel and receive religious instruction from the chaplain

Question 19

What role did John Howard play in the Gaols Act of 1823?

Answer 19

Before his death in 1790, John Howard had strongly attacked the old prison system and detailed changes that should be made in his report, some of which Robert Peel included in the 1823 Gaols Act:
- All prisoners should have proper food
- Prisoners must be healthy
- Prison guards were to be paid and should not rely on prison fees
- The separation of first time offenders and repeated offenders

Question 20

What role did Elizabeth Fry play in the Gaols Act of 1823?

Answer 20

Elizabeth Fry was a Quaker with a strong religious background, and believed that there was an element of God in everybody, so anybody can be reformed. She was disgusted by conditions in Newgate Prison and put forward ideas included in the Gaols Act, such as:
- Male and females are to be separated
- Female prisoners should have female warders
- Prisons should be healthy and proper food should be given

Question 21

What was Pentonville Prison and what was the Separate System?

Answer 21

Between 1842 and 1877, 90 new prisons were built in Britain, and the first of these was Pentonville. Pentonville was built to deal with the increased number of serious criminals who were no longer being transported or executed.

Pentonville aimed to reform the prisoners that passed through its doors, as they would spend time alone and reflect on their crimes, and its system became known as the Separate System.

• The Separate System involved prisoners spending nearly all of their time alone in their cells, contact with other inmates was minimal to reduce wicked influence.
• Prisoners attended chapel in an attempt to reform them and were boxed in separately to minimise contact between other inmates
• Prisoners were taught useful work in cells in an effort to make them productive systems who would return to work after instead of returning to crime

Question 22

What were the advantages and disadvantages to the Separate System?

Answer 22

Advantage:
- Ensured prisoners could no longer mix and negatively influence one another

Disadvantages:
- Placing inmates in solitary confinement negatively impacted their mental health, and some even committed suicide
- Housing all inmates separately increased the cost of building and running prisons

Question 23

What was the silent system and why was it introduced?

Answer 23

Although ideas about reform had appeared in society in the 1800s, popular and cheap booklets known as the Penny Dreadfuls spread rumours about violent crimes and worried the public that the government were not doing enough to deter the criminal classes. The books also spread the rumour that the criminal class could not be reformed.

As a result, the government introduced the silent system:
- Prisoners were expected to be silent at all times
- Hard wooden bunks were provided for deliberate discomfort
- The food was adequate but monotonous, the same menu every day
- Prisoners were expected to take part in hard labour, deliberately pointless work for several hours every day

Question 24

What helped Robert Peel introduce the Metropolitan Police in 1829 and why did he introduce it?

Answer 24

• The Role of Peel: Peel was Home Secretary and therefore utilised statistics to aid his work and convinced many other politicians. People started to believe that the police would not limit freedom.
• Government and taxation: The government played a bigger role in people’s lives and raised lots of taxes, which could be used to pay for a police force. Local communities also had their own taxation system to fund a police force.
• Increased crime and increased fear of crime: Widespread belief that violent crime was on the rise as many were left unemployed after the French War (soldiers as well as people in weapon factories for eg.)
• Fear of protest: Many feared a repeat of the French Revolution would occur in Britain with unemployment and rising food prices, a police force would help control this.
• London: Rapid growth of towns made the use of constables and watchmen seem inadequate, a police force seemed necessary.