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Thursday May 17, 1750, between eight and nine o'clock John Bradnam was intending to go to bed, but first was gathering some money to pay his way the following day. He put nineteen guineas and one shilling into a purse, and then placed the purse into his pocket. Shortly afterwards he was called down. Bradnam returned to his room about half an hour later, and upon his return he found his pocket had been moved. After taking out his money and counting it, he realized he was missing two guineas. He then asked his maid, Elizabeth Rice, who had been in his room, she said she did not know. Bradnam said some body had to have been in my room for I am missing two guineas. Bradnam search his maid and found the two guineas upon her. She then confused to taking out of his pocket, saying, she planned on paying him back. Bradnam then called Ann Wade, and John Archer up as soon as he had found it. Ann Wade and John Archer confirmed her testimony. Elizabeth Rice, on May 30, 1750, was charged with theft: simple grand larceny and was sentenced to the punishment of transportation.
Between the years of 1714 and 1799 the rate of theft in London increased for many reasons. The method of research use to prove this hypothesis was Old Bailey online. Old Bailey is a court in the city of London in the county of Middlesex. The court is held eight times a year for the trial of prisoners; the crimes tried in this court are high and petty treason, petty larceny, murder, felony, burglary, etc. The goal of this paper is to prove that not only did theft increase, but also why it increased. My preliminary findings suggest that overall theft did increase, and that the main causes for this were: political, economical, and social problems.
Theft, the act of stealing, larceny, was a common law offence, but there were a large number of statutes which legislated specific punishments for particular types of theft. Of the 16,424 cases of theft between 1714 and 1799 sixty six percent were simple grand larcenies, the most common type. Simple grand larceny was defined as "the theft of goods of the value of 1 shilling (12 pence = 1 Shilling.
There was very little structure to the justice system and due to it being so punitive, juries were reluctant to find people guilty of offences (Bentley, 1998). This period of time became known as ‘The Bloody Code’. Throughout The Bloody Code policing was entirely a local initiative, there was not a centralised police force. Constables, Watchmen and Amateur Justices were tasked with crime prevention, crime detection, and general public safety (Reiner, 2000). However, the Watchmen were branded ineffective and there was little to no public confidence in their use, they were ‘scarcely removed from idiotism’ (Critchley, 1978: 18) this view would makeweight of the orthodox perspective suggesting that the New Police were to bring competency and professionalism, attributes which clearly lacked within the private system. Another major issue that affected the public opinion of the private system was the employment of thief-takers. For example, Jonathan Wild, a private detective who was extremely corrupt. Wild stole items from individuals, and then took it upon himself to return these items for a large reward. The revisionist view is that corruption was not an
Criminals and thieves are a piece of every society in existence. A common question that is always present regarding criminals is how to punish them and how to keep more of the population from becoming criminals as time goes on. In his book, Utopia, Saint Thomas More discusses a wide variety of topics that posed important questions in the late European Renaissance. Through More’s recounting of the tales told by Raphael Hythloday, we get a glimpse of how criminals were treated in England at the time and we also get an understanding of Thomas More’s personal stance on how criminals are treated and should be punished.
Through the first chapter of this book the focus was primarily on the notion of controlling crime. The best way to describe crime policy used in this chapter is comparing it to a game of ‘heads I win, tails you lose’. This chapter also addresses the causes for decline in America’s
People were even punished harshly for trivial crimes such as stealing a loaf of bread. . This was considered a serious offence in this time period. These crimes were mainly executed people who had no job. So they resorted to these crimes to get a pay.
This paper will provide an explanation into how differential association theory explains burglary. Burglary, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I), considers a property crime a Type 1 Index Crime because of its potentially violent nature. The F.B.I. breaks burglary down into three sub classifications. This paper discusses the elements of the crime of burglary and what constitutes a structure or dwelling. It will discuss a brief history of the deviance, trends and rates, and how it correlates to the specific theory that this paper will also discuss.
Muncie, J., Talbot, D. and Walters, R. Crime: Local and Global, William Publishing, (Devon). P. 3.
A case of the Old Bailey Records contains documentation for Mary Brown’s accusation and guilty conviction on the account of shoplifting on the 20th of April in the year of 1737. Brown was indicted for stealing 9 yards of While and Silver lustering’s, and 9 yards of Green and silver ditto; a monetary value of 61 from Thomas Hinchliffe in the parish of St. Bride’s on April 7th. In addition, Mary Brown had a previous record for shoplifting that condemned her to be transported. However, Mary Brown was found in the system under the name of Mary White, during the month of February, in 1736, for robbing Mr. Davis shop. The evidence against Brown was accounted by Mr. Enstone who was managing Silver Lustering; he stated he witnessed Brown leave the
Kelling, George L. Thinking About Crime: Is There a Right to Beg? 1993. Web. 10 December 2013.
The status of the criminal justice system in Europe during the 1700s was the product of long tradition of aristocracy. An aristocracy government is one in which land is owned by particular families and is passed down through the generations of a family line. The monarch of the region grants titles and powers to the privileged classes, who in return keep order within their land and swear loyalty to the monarch. Property and power in an aristocracy were the privileges of birth alone and being merit was simply irrelevant. Their lives circled around maintaining, while attempting to expand, their wealth and power. Historically, as a higher class among others, aristocrats were known to be negligent towards the poor. To where they were prone to appoint
Menninger begins to support his claim of policy by demonstrating the failures of the present penal system. He states, "Today it is no secret that our official, prison-threat theory of crime control is an utter failure" (537). He illustrates this assertion by pointing out that in England when pocket picking was punishable by hanging, pickpockets targeted the crowd that gathered to witness ...
Pollock, F., & Maitland, F.W. (2012). The history of English law before the time of Edward 1: Crimes and torts. Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund.
Muncie, J., and Mclaughin, E. (1996) The Problem of Crime. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publication Ltd.
In court, testifying, Elizabeth has the fate of her and her husband at stake. After her husband, John Proctor, had had an affair with Abigail, she was asked if her husband had turned from her. “No, sir” (Miller, 113). Once knowing that she had lied in court the judge exclaims “She has spoken. Remove her!” (Miller, 113). The woman who never told a lie had lied to protect her husband’s reputation not knowing that John already confessed. Only because of Abigail’s lies, Elizabeth was sent to sit in the jail cell until it became her time to hang. Abigail’s lies affected almost everyone in the town including a woman named Sarah
Lane, Roger. "Crime and Industrial Revolution: British and American Views." Journal of Social History 7.3 (1974): 287-303. JStor. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. .
I visited Canterbury Crown Court on the 20th October 2015 at 12.08pm. As I approached the grand building I felt both excited and nervous. I had a fragmented idea about what I was about to experience due to previously visiting the Supreme Court in London a few years ago to view the Lundy murders hearing. However, I was still rather sceptical about what I was about to experience. I had pre-conceived court expectations due to watching television dramas such as “Silk” and “Accused”.