Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2024
First exams 2026
The Types of Criminal Activity in Eighteenth & Nineteenth-Century Britain (Edexcel GCSE History)
Revision Note
The Types of Criminal Activity in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Britain - Timeline & Summary
The Industrial Revolution accelerated urbanisation in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain. This led to a dramatic increase in crimes like burglary, public disorder and street theft. Highway robbery also increased. However, by the 1830s, it had completely disappeared. The ‘Bloody Code’ continued to make many crimes punishable by death. Two of these crimes – poaching and smuggling – were still considered ‘social’ crimes. The public saw the government's response to these crimes as unreasonable. This was also the case with the Tolpuddle Martyrs. |
Why did Crime Increase in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Britain?
Crime in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain increased for a number of reasons:
Government policy
Laissez-faire
The government mostly adopted a policy of non-interference in this period
The government did not play a big role in protecting people from crime
This was based on the view that the government should not be overly involved in people’s daily lives
Industrialisation
Travel
By the 1840s, the railway was a major form of easy travel
It gradually became cheaper
This meant that criminals could move around more easily and avoid capture
Work
Jobs like producing textiles were traditionally done in homes
Mechanised production in factories left many jobless
Those who did work in factories faced harsh conditions and poor pay
Rising unemployment and low wages led to extreme poverty
As in the early modern era, some resorted to committing ‘survival crimes’ like petty theft
Urbanisation
As in the early modern era, town and city populations continued to increase
Many urban areas became overcrowded
Areas became exposed to more strangers
Communities were no longer tightly knit
Criminals could more easily avoid being caught
Some criminals became ‘professionals’ in dens or gangs
How many people lived in towns and cities?
Why was Witchcraft no Longer Considered a Crime?
Post-Civil War changes
After the English Civil War, economic and social changes led to
As a result, the number of witchcraft prosecutions declined
Scientific advancements
During the Restoration, Charles II established the Royal Society
This led to more scientific experiments
These explained things that were previously thought to be the work of witches
Things like illnesses were now explained with natural rather than supernatural causes
Many people, especially the educated, stopped believing in magic altogether
Changes to the legal status of witchcraft
Why did the legal status of Witchcraft change?
Changing attitudes | Changing punishments |
---|---|
Some people still believed that witches were working with the Devil | Witchcraft remained punishable by death up until 1736 |
More people began to see witchcraft as a crime of deception | After 1736, witchcraft became punishable by fines or imprisonment |
Crimes Against a Person: Highway Robbery
The growth of highway robbery
Across the 18th and early 19th centuries, highway robbery dramatically increased
Travellers became very fearful of highwaymen
The decline of highway robbery
The government saw highwaymen as a major disruption to trade
This was especially the case on roads around London
Authorities started to make more efforts to reduce highway robbery
In the early 19th century, highway robbery started to decrease
It eventually stopped altogether
Once highway robbery was no longer a threat, penny dreadfuls started to romanticise highwaymen
Notorious highwaymen like Jack Sheppard and Dick Turpin were now being celebrated as heroes
The image below is of a penny dreadful from around 1866-68. It is a highly fictionalised account of the life of Dick Turpin, who was executed in 1739 after being found guilty of horse theft
Exam Tip
Highway robbery is an example of both change and continuity. It marked a change because it only became possible after the increase in travel, but it remained a type of theft.
Crimes Against Property: Changes in Poaching and Smuggling
Poaching
Poaching laws became harsher after the crimes of the Waltham Blacks, who
Hunted the Bishop of Winchester’s deer
Stole a shipment of the king’s wine
The government saw poachers as a threat to wealthy landowners’ property
Authorities arrested the group and sentenced them to death by hanging
Laws against poaching were very unpopular with ordinary people
Public opinion towards poaching
The Waltham Black Act was repealed 100 years after it was passed
Poaching remained a crime, but it was no longer a capital offence
Smuggling
Smuggling of goods like tea, cloth, wine and alcohol continued
High taxes on imported goods led to an increase in smuggling
The government saw smuggling as a serious crime because it was
Disruptive to trade
A drain on tax revenue
Around 1.4 tonnes of tea was smuggled into Britain each year, tax-free
Despite this, authorities struggled to stop smuggling
Why was it difficult to stop smuggling?
Smuggling gangs caused big problems for the government
They could be as large as 50-100 well-armed men
They fought with customs officers
The Hawkhurst Gang was one such example
They smuggled goods along the south coast
They seized back their confiscated goods
The authorities sentenced the leaders to death by hanging
Smuggling involved many different groups:
The smugglers themselves
Made huge profits from smuggling large volumes of goods
Those who helped smugglers
Many locals maintained boats and hid cargo for smuggler gangs
In doing so, they could earn twice the average labourer’s day wage
Those who bought smuggled goods
The public disliked expensive duties
They liked that smugglers made luxury goods affordable
Some government ministers even bought smuggled wine
Those who gave smugglers alibis
Smuggling gangs sometimes murdered witnesses who gave evidence against them in court
Fear of these gangs deterred people from reporting them
Many ended up defending smugglers instead
In the 1840s, the government significantly lowered taxes on imported goods
This led to a decline in smuggling
Crimes Against Authority: The Tolpuddle Martyrs
Background
In 1789, the French Revolution took place
It caused the British government to
fear the possibility of a British revolution
become suspicious of the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union (GNCTU)
begin to punish protests very harshly
Events of the Tolpuddle Martyrs
Significance
The case of the Tolpuddle Martyrs shows how the government
Used the law to criminalise people they saw as a threat
Particularly workers who were demanding better pay and conditions
Protected the interests of employers and wealthy landowners at the expense of workers
Took into account public opinion
This is shown by the fact that the government eventually pardoned the martyrs
Worked Example
Describe one feature of highway robbery in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain
2 marks
Answers:
Highway robbery increased in 18th- and 19th-century Britain. (1) This is partly because isolated roads made it easy for highwaymen to ambush travellers (1)
Exam Tip
This question previously asked students to describe two features of a given event. This question was out of four marks. However, as of 2025, Edexcel will split this question into two subsections, asking you to describe a feature of two different events. Each subsection is worth two marks.
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