Crime in c1700-c1900

Question 1

What are some changes in smuggling?

Answer 1

1. C18th more goods including cloth, wine and spirits-were taxed and smuggling increased
2. C18th was the growth of large smuggling gangs like the Hawkhurst gang

Question 2

Evidence for Hawkhurst Gang:

Answer 2

1. They controlled smuggling around long stretches of the south coast of England from 1735-49
2. Far more organised and operated on a larger scale than earlier smugglers
3. The leaders Arthur Gray and Thomas Kingsmill were caught and hanged in 1748/49

Question 3

Why was smuggling a social crime?

Answer 3

1. Many people benefitted from the cheaper smuggled goods
2. Some smugglers were even viewed as local heroes

Question 4

Why did smuggling become less common?

Answer 4

1. William Pitt lowered import duties in the 1780s and they were reduced again in C19th
2. There was now less difference in price so the extent of smuggling dropped dramatically

Question 5

Why did highway robbery become more common in the C18th?

Answer 5

1. Trade increased so there was more need to move goods and money
2. Only a few banks where money could be left so travellers often carried large sums in cash
3. Many isolated roads where robberies could take place
4. Turnpike trusts improved the road surfaces, charging travellers a toll to pay for these improvements. More travel, more people to steal from

Question 6

What is an example of a highwayman?

Answer 6

1. In Derbyshire, Black Harry robbed pack-mule trains
2. Eventually caught and executed at Wardlow Mires

Question 7

Why was highway robbery treated as a serious crime?

Answer 7

1. Disrupted travel between towns
2. Crime was committed on the king’s highway
3. Disrupted the postal service

Question 8

Why did highway robbery decrease?

Answer 8

1. In 1772, death penalty introduced
2. Continued into the 19th century but after 1815 it became less common
3. The last reported case was in 1831
4. Mounted patrol on major roads in C19th
5. Growth of banking systems

Question 9

How did poaching change?

Answer 9

1. Rise in gangs operating on a large scale
2. Prompted the 1723 Black Act made it a capital crime- blackening your face in a hunting area and carrying snares illegal
3. Only landowners with land worth more than £100 a year could hunt with no restriction
4. 1823, the Act was repealed by Robert Peel no longer a capital crime.

Question 10

Decriminalisation of Witchcraft:

Answer 10

1. In 1736, George II, a new witchcraft act was passed
2. Decriminalised witches
3. Those who claimed to be witches were now seen as tricksters
4. Less severe punishments of fines and imprisonment

Question 11

Why was the French Revolution frightening the authorities?

Answer 11

1. In 1789
2. Temporary overthrow of the ruling classes with thousands of the nobility executed
3. Further uprisings in 1830
4. Felt vulnerable

Question 12

What was the motive of the Tolpuddle Martyrs?

Answer 12

1. The men had been accused of administering an illegal oath
2. They swore to protect their wages
3. They wanted to protest about their low wages six shillings a week average for a farm labourer was ten shillings a week
4. Created a ‘friendly society’ an early form of trade union

Question 13

What was their punishment and public reaction?

Answer 13

1. Loveless and the other men were sentenced to 7 years transportation
2. Mass protest in London with up to 100,000 and a petition with 200,000
3. Lord Melbourne refused to accept it
4. 4 years later they were pardoned and were given a ‘hero’s welcome’
5. Shows how public opinion could influence definitions of crime