Crime and Punishment / 1700-1900
Crime and Punishment: Industrial Era Overview
Industrial change moved people into towns, factories, and faster travel, which affected crime and policing.
What To Remember
- The Industrial Revolution changed Britain from a mainly rural, farming society into an urban, industrial one.
- The population of England and Wales rose from about 9.5 million in 1750 to about 41.5 million by 1900.
- Crowded towns, faster transport, higher taxes, richer trade, and new ideas all changed crime, policing, and punishment.
A changing country
In 1700 most people still lived in villages and worked on the land.
By 1900, most people lived in towns and many worked in factories, workshops, mines, or transport.
This made crime harder to control because people were less known to their neighbours and old local systems struggled in large towns.
Transport, trade, and crime
Improved roads and stagecoaches helped highway robbery grow in the 1700s because more travellers carried valuables.
Railways, better banking, and more organised patrols later helped highway robbery decline.
High import duties kept smuggling profitable until duties were reduced, while enclosure and game laws kept poaching controversial.
Government and reform
By the 19th century, more people accepted that government should intervene to improve order and living conditions.
The Bloody Code declined because juries and reformers increasingly thought punishments should fit the crime.
Robert Peel, Elizabeth Fry, John Howard, and professional policing show the shift towards organised, humanitarian reform.
Revision Prompt
Which mattered more for crime and punishment: urban growth, transport, or changing attitudes to reform?