Crime and Law in England, 1750–1840

Peter King052178199X, 9780521781992, 9780511257377

How was law made in England in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries? Through detailed studies of what the courts actually did, Peter King argues that parliament and the Westminster courts played a less important role in the process of law making than is usually assumed. Justice was often remade from the margins by magistrates, judges and others at the local level. His book also focuses on four specific themes – gender, youth, violent crime and the attack on customary rights. In doing so it highlights a variety of important changes – the relatively lenient treatment meted out to women by the late eighteenth century, the early development of the juvenile reformatory in England before 1825, i.e. before similar changes on the continent or in America, and the growing intolerance of the courts towards everyday violence. This study is invaluable reading to anyone interested in British political and legal history.

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Half-title……Page 3
Title……Page 5
Copyright……Page 6
Dedication……Page 7
Contents……Page 9
Preface……Page 11
Figures……Page 14
Tables……Page 16
1. Shaping and remaking justice from the
margins. The courts, the law and patterns
of lawbreaking 1750–1840……Page 19
I……Page 21
II……Page 28
III……Page 32
IV……Page 40
V……Page 53
VI……Page 57
VII……Page 70
VIII……Page 79
Part I Juveniles……Page 89
2. The rise of juvenile delinquency in England 1780–1840: changing patterns of perception and prosecution……Page 91
I……Page 93
II……Page 108
III……Page 119
IV……Page 129
3. The punishment of juvenile offenders in
the English courts 1780–1830. Changing
attitudes and policies……Page 132
I……Page 135
II……Page 138
III……Page 141
IV……Page 147
V……Page 150
VI……Page 156
VII……Page 157
4. The making of the reformatory. The
development of informal reformatory
sentences for juvenile offenders 1780–1830……Page 160
I……Page 161
II……Page 165
III……Page 173
IV……Page 178
Part II Gender……Page 181
5. Gender, crime and justice in late
eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century
England……Page 183
I……Page 184
II……Page 195
III……Page 204
6. Gender and recorded crime. The
long-term impact of female offenders on
prosecution rates across England and Wales
1750–1850……Page 214
I……Page 217
II……Page 225
III……Page 230
IV……Page 232
V……Page 237
Part III Non-lethal violence……Page 243
7. Punishing assault: the transformation of
attitudes in the English courts……Page 245
I……Page 246
II……Page 250
III……Page 254
IV……Page 258
V……Page 261
VI……Page 267
8. Changing attitudes to violence in the
Cornish courts 1730–1830……Page 273
I……Page 275
II……Page 286
III……Page 293
Part IV The attack on customary rights……Page 297
9. Legal change, customary right, and
social conflict in late eighteenth-century
England: the origins of the Great Gleaning
Case of 1788……Page 299
I……Page 302
II……Page 306
III……Page 308
IV……Page 310
V……Page 316
VI……Page 319
VII……Page 323
10. Gleaners, farmers and the failure of
legal sanctions in England 1750–1850……Page 326
I……Page 328
II……Page 332
III……Page 339
IV……Page 344
V……Page 347
VI……Page 350
VII……Page 351
Index……Page 357