Crime in England during 1660-1800 - Essay Example

Did the crime increase in England from 1660-1800 Introduction: The meaning of crime differs in every society and changes with the passing time. Offences of different types are found in every society such as murder, burglary or rape as in the case of modern England. Such offences are not only illegal but also morally wrong. Other offences such as high speeding are considered to be illegal but not morally wrong. The British history like the history of any other country is not free from criminal activities. Sexual offences, frauds, murders, kidnapping, perjury and many other crimes were as common in the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries as are today. In this paper I aim to discuss crime in England from the period of 1660 to 1800 by first defining its meaning in relation to the laws in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I will then move forward with discussion on the circumstances that led to the rise in crimes. In the end I will examine the different types of crimes that were most common in England during 1660-1800. Crime- it’s meaning in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: Crime in England during 1660-1800 had different meaning as compared to its definition in the modern society. Sin was also included in the category of crime and the ecclesiastical courts were busy in punishing the immoral and ungodly acts such as sexual immorality, which in modern world holds no value. Another category of crime called “social crime” included crimes that were defined by the parliamentary statute as illegal but were not considered morally wrong by the people who were involved in them. Such social crimes included poaching, smuggling, rioting and wrecking. In the seventeenth century with the rise of the property offences the definition of crime was broadened and also included property offences under its umbrella. With the turn of the century the life became more complicated and the definition of crime was once again revised and “fraud” also became a part of it (Sharpe, 1995). Crime was clearly defined and was divided into two categories that determined the nature of punishment. The criminal law made distinction between “felony” or capital punishment, which involved theft of such items that were valued more than one shilling. “Misdemeanor” involved theft of such items that were valued less than one shilling. There was no death sentence in the case of misdemeanor. However the price inflation of the sixteenth century had raised the value of many stolen goods to more than one shilling. As a result of which many more thefts came under the category of “felony” (Cockburn, 1985). Historians are of the view that it is difficult to record the exact statistics of the crimes committed during 1660-1800. Their records are based on the cases reported in the courts during that period and exclude all those cases that were never reported or tried before the courts. The “dark figure” thus refers to the number of crimes that were committed but never brought to light. In the seventeenth century, there were a number of reasons, which prevented an individual from reporting or prosecuting crime. Occasionally the victim was unaware of the culprit and hence could not report it. Sometimes agreement with the culprit or minor punishments such as removal from the office settled the matter, which prevented the matter to be tried at the court. Especially during the seventeenth and eighteenth century it was difficult for the victim to prosecute crime due to financial and time constraints. It is therefore difficult to visualize the rate of crime since the crimes reported were only a sample of the actual number of crimes committed (Sharpe, 1995). Circumstances that led to the rise in crime in 1660-1800: Despite all these difficulties historians have managed to collect data based on the records of the assizes and the courts where crimes of serious nature were tried. These studies allow us an insight into the nature and pattern of crime committed during 1660-1800. The level of crime was surprisingly low at the end of the seventeenth century as compared to the previous century. However, the last decade of seventeenth century saw an increase in crime rate again due to poor harvest. The highest crimes in this period were property theft and burglary (Sharpe, 1995). Studies carried out by historians have revealed the fact that the period of early eighteenth century was relatively a low crime period. Compared to the previous century the levels of indicted crime were low. Date collected from the Surrey and Sussex assizes during the period of 1660-1800 indicate the low levels of indictment until the middle of the century. At the same time the rapid urbanization and the ever increasing population of the country also indicated the fact that by the end of the century England will be once again facing the same old problem of increased crime (Beattie, 1986). As the sixteenth and seventeenth century witnessed an increase in the property crime due to the harvest failure, the eighteenth century saw another factor, which led to the rise in crime in England. England was attaining the status of a “Great Power” due to which the country had to prepare large armies and navies for war. At the end of each war, a large number of soldiers and sailors from the labor class were demobilized and were dumped on the streets of their homeland without proper means of earning a living. The situation thus made it evident that the country’s peaceful days resulted in the rise of the rate of crime in particular the property offences (Sharpe, 1995). The increased commercial activities increased more chances for women to adopt different professions and thus become financially independent due to which petty crime related to women attacking their husbands with sharpened objects or verbally increased tremendously (Foyster, 2005). Types of Crime committed during 1660-1800: Crimes committed during 1660 to 1800 were of different levels and nature. Culprits were tried at the Old Bailey Court if the crime was of serious nature. Some cases of serious misdemeanor were also tried there. Other less offensive crimes were tried at inferior courts. Approximately 101,102 trials were tried at the Old Bailey from April 1674 to October 1834. The summary of a single day i.e. 15th January 1725 trials at the Old Bailey show nine culprits were given death sentence, three were punished with “burnt in the hand”, thirty five culprits were to be transported to America where as one was given three months imprisonment (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). The summary of a single day indicates the fact that the courts were busy in enforcing law, which further highlights the high level of crime during 1660-1800. The Old Bailey records show following types of crimes that were found in the pre industrial England: Breaking the Peace: Crimes under this category included assault, spreading false rumors, defaming someone, riot, threatening behavior, vagabonding and other offences that included throwing fire crackers, fighting at public places, trespassing or appearing in public places with arms and blackened faces. Only riots and assaults of serious nature were treated under the category of felony, the rest were tried as misdemeanors. One such example of breaking the peace is the case of William Green of Stepney. Green was indicted along with his accomplices for breaking into the house of William Jones, a bailiff, stripping him naked, whipping him and then throwing him in a ditch full of human excrement. Green was also indicted for breaking into the house of Geo Westwood (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). The news reports of the same period also give us convincing evidence of the crimes committed during 1660-1800. According to the reports a number of scandalous papers such as “The Black List” (1702), “The shortest way with the Dissenters” (1703), “The secret Memoirs” (1709), “The Atlantis” (1709) were published. Their authors were indicted at the Old Bailey and punished accordingly (Norton, 2005). Damage to Property: Damage to property was considered a serious offence and was treated as felony. The category included burning of property, killing of domestic animals, destroying plantations, destroying a fish pond or river bank, damaging a piece of cloth when it was worn, attempts to demolish a house, breaking into a building with a view to steal and arson. At Old Bailey approximately 140 cases of damage to property were reported between 1675-1834. The records of Old Bailey show that crimes related to arson were highest in number In most cases maids were indicted for damaging the property of their respective masters. As in 1676 a woman was indicted for burning her master’s barn in which wheat and corn were stored. In another case, in 1679, a maid was indicted for torching her master’s house at Hatton garden. A look at the proceedings at the Old Bailey give us convincing evidence that crimes related to horse and sheep theft and damage to silk looms were also high (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). Deception: Deception included cases related to bankruptcy, forgery, fraud and perjury. Although bankruptcy itself was not a crime but it became one when the bankrupt acted against the law by failing to surrender himself before the concerned authority in order to disclose his possessions. The people in the society practiced deception of different nature. In 1675 two persons were convicted for forging Tickets. In 1684 a man was indicted for pretending to be a Drawer at the Horn Tavern in Fleet Street. Such incidents are reflective of the fact that deception was common in the pre industrial England and was considered a crime (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). Killing: The criminal proceedings show different types of killings that were common in the pre industrial England. These included killing of a baby especially those that were born out of wedlock and planned and unplanned murders. Petty treason included murder of a superior by his inferior. The newspaper records show a number of murders committed in the society that fell into the category of petty treason. Death in a duel was also an offence but was treated as a lesser offence (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). Reports related to the murder of masters by their servants as in the cases of John Naden and Mary Taylor (1731), or in a drunken state as in the case of the tailor and the cobbler (1730) and women killing their babies filled the newspapers of the pre industrial England (Norton, 2002). Offences against the Queen or the King: Offences related to the Royal authority were also found in the pre industrial England and were tried at the Old Bailey court. Coining, offences related to religious bodies, seditious libel or words, refusing allegiance, tax offences and treason were found scattered in the society (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). A number of trials related to coining indicate the fact that coining was common during 1660-1800. One notable case related to coining involved a Jew, Joseph Hyans (1728) who was found guilty of cutting 30 broad pieces of gold to the value of nineteen shillings. Hyans was executed at Kingston (Norton, 2002). In 1727 a man was arrested for defacing the statue of the King at Grosvernor Square. The publisher of the seditious journal “Mist” also was arrested in 1729 under the same law. In 1744 two men were arrested for singing seditious ballads and were punished with one-month rigorous imprisonment. Such rebellions by the Jacobites against the royal authority were very common from 1689-1745 (Norton, 2002). Religious offences such as acting as a priest, not attending the church, printing blasphemous publications and witchcraft were also common in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The ritual of burning effigies of the Pope, the Devil and the Pretender in a public gathering was performed annually at the anniversary of the coronation of the Queen from 1711-1713. A number of people were arrested for this ritual, under the law, which declared it a serious crime in the pre industrial England. Many women were also arrested for practicing witchcraft (Norton, 2002). Other offences included refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance during the last two decades of the seventeenth century and acting as a traitor during the war with France from 1689 to 1697 (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). Sexual Offences: Crimes related to inappropriate sexual activities were also brought to light at the Old Bailey. Due to the difficulty in providing evidence in such cases majority of the cases were not reported. Crimes related to assault with rape and sodomy, bigamy, rape, keeping a brothel were tried under this category. Bigamy especially in cases of women was very common because many husbands disappeared often during the sea voyages leaving a doubt whether they were alive or not (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). Sexual offences, in particular, the rape of young girls by old men in pre industrial England were often reported in the newspapers. In one case a man Daniel Curtis was indicted for have elicit relations with his daughter. On another occasion a man named John Francis raped a fifty-year-old woman for three hours. The man was sentenced to death for his barbarous act. Another man was whipped twice for raping a nine-year-old child. Cases related to sodomy were also reported in abundance. On May 7, 1726 approximately 20 houses were reported in the newspapers that were run as sodomitical clubs. In the same year a couple was also indicted for allowing sodomitcal activities in their house (Norton, 2002). Theft: Theft, such as animal theft, burglary, black mailing, embezzlement and pick pocketing etc were common in England during 1660-1800. Theft was considered a serious crime and was categorized as felony. Animal theft became very common as a result of which several laws were passed in 1741 and 1742 making it a capital offense. Several cases of embezzlement such as theft of money and bills etc. by the employers of the South Sea Company (1751), theft of the same in Bank of England (1795 and 1797) and theft of letters by the workers at the Post Office (1765) forced the government to adopt statutes against it (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). The cases related to pick pocketing were very common and the records show that approximately more than two-dozen people were daily indicted for this offense (Norton, 2002). Due to the increased commercial activity in England more and more shops were set up which resulted in increased cases of shoplifting (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). The newspapers report the cases of both men and women involved in shoplifting. Well-dressed women pretending to be grocers were often arrested for shoplifting (Norton, 2002). Cases related to women being robbed by Highwaymen and street robbers were also very high in pre Industrial England (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). Other crimes such as kidnapping, conspiracy, obstructing justice, piracy and returning from transportation before the expiry of the punishment were also found scattered in the pre Industrial society. Initiating a business without full apprenticeship, convincing a skilled worker to live and practice in some other country, getting involved in such activities that looked suspicious and not surrendering before the concerned authority after the issuing of an order by the council also fell in the category of crimes and the culprits were punished according to the seriousness of the crime (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). Other Petty Crimes: Some other minor crimes that fell into the category of “petty crime” were relatively large in number. Petty crimes “were the acts of aggression, physical or verbal, that were viewed by the contemporaries as relatively minor, but nonetheless unacceptable”. Petty crimes were largely not reported by the victims due to the fact that it involved money and at the same time the courts were also not interested in them. However incidents related to husbands being attacked by wives with a fork as in the case of Thomas Taylor were common in pre industrial England. A large number of incidents related to petty violence were also prosecuted between 1680 and 1720. Petty crimes related to men were often political in nature and included aggression against the government, the army, bailiffs and marshals. Women were involved in riots or minor neighborhood tensions or when their husbands and sons were jailed (Hurl-Eamon, 2005). The period between 1660 and 1800 witnessed many new laws that were enforced to control the crimes. The government saw the demand of new laws to control crime and to redefine some old ones. The 1713 statute related to pilfering by servants, the Black Act of 1723, the Riot Act of 1715, statutes related to animal theft that made the theft of sheep and cattle felonious, the 1691 statute that declared any person receiving stolen goods knowingly equally guilty are all indicative of the fact that different types of criminal activities were wide spread in the society (Hitchcock and Shoemaker, 2003). Conclusion: Crime has always been of great interest to the historians who have gone through every detail to examine the level, types and nature of crime during different centuries in the English history. Since the records of the historians are based only on the available records of the assizes, it is thus difficult to evaluate the level of crime in the period between 1660-1800. Most of the crimes have not been brought to the light as a result of which the evaluation of the historians remains uncertain. At the same time the problems of each century remain different from one another. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century the rate of crime increased due to the harvest failure and the rapid increase in the population. The eighteenth century once again saw the problem of rise in the crime rate due to rapid industrialization, commercialization, urbanization and demobilization of soldiers. Mass killings, kidnappings, frauds, perjury, treachery, theft and sexual activities were very much common in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Anyways the period between 1660-1800 had its own problems, which led to the rise in crime of different types and levels. The records available at the Old Bailey and the newspapers are indicative of the fact that the period between 1660-1800 was as much filled with criminal activities and the courts and the legislative authorities were busy in implementing law and making new ones for the benefit of the society. References Beattie, J.M. (Feb. 1986), “Crime and the Courts in England, 1660-1800”. JSTOR, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 238-239 Cockburn, J.S (1985), “Introduction” In J.S Cockburn, ed., Calender of Assizes Records: Home Circuit Indictments, Elizabeth 1 and James 1, Introduction, London, pg. 66 Foyster, E. (2005). “Marital Violence:An English Family History, 1660-1857”, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Pg 38. Hindle, S. (2003). “Crime and Popular Protest”, in, Coward, Barry, Ed., A Companion to Stuart Britain, Oxford, p. 130 Hitchcock, T. and Shoemaker, R. (2003). “Crimes tried at the Old Bailey”, Old Bailey Proceedings Online Retrieved on November 27, 2006 from www.oldbaileyonline.org Hurl-Eamon, J. (2005). “Chapter 8” in Gender and Petty Violence in London, 1680-1720, The Ohio State University Press, Columbus. Pg 126. Norton, R. (2002). Early Eighteenth-Century Newspaper Reports: A Sourcebook, updated 4 March 2005, Retrieved on November 27, 2006 from www.infopt.demon.co.uk/grub/grub.htm Sharpe, J. (1995), “The history of crime in England, 1550-1914”, Refresh n. 20. Economic History Society Heslington, York, UK. Retrieved on November 27, 2006 from http://www.ehs.org.uk/society/pdfs/Sharpe%2020b.pdf Read More