Crime and Punishment / 1723-1823
Crime and Punishment: Poaching and the Black Act
Poor labourers often poached to feed their families, but the Black Act made it a capital crime.
What To Remember
- Poaching remained illegal, but many people saw it as a social crime because it was linked to hunger, low wages, and unfair land laws.
- The Black Act of 1723 made many poaching offences capital crimes, especially if offenders were armed or disguised.
- Its repeal in 1823 shows changing attitudes: poaching stayed illegal, but death was increasingly seen as too harsh.
Why people poached
Many poachers were poor rural labourers who used rabbits, hares, deer, or pheasants to feed their families or add to low wages.
Some small tenants hunted on land they worked, while some better-off poachers hunted for sport.
Because enclosure reduced access to common land, many ordinary people thought poaching was understandable even when it broke the law.
The Black Act
The Black Act was passed in 1723 after clashes between landowners and organised poachers.
Anyone found armed, disguised, or with a blackened face in a hunting area could be treated as a serious criminal.
It protected the property rights of wealthy landowners and made poaching part of the wider Bloody Code.
Change by 1823
The Act was repealed in 1823, the same year as the Gaols Act.
This did not make poaching legal, but it removed execution as a punishment.
It is a useful example of the shift from harsh deterrence towards punishments that seemed more proportionate.
Revision Prompt
Why might a poor labourer, a landowner, and a judge have viewed poaching differently?