Law, Crime and English Society, 1660–1830

This book is an invaluable account of crime, law, and society in eighteenth-century England.

Norma Landau (Edited by)

9780521642613, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 October 2002

280 pages, 6 tables
23.6 x 16.3 x 2.4 cm, 0.6 kg

'Landau has done a splendid job in bringing these essays together and this volume is bound to take its place among the distinguished essay collections that seem to predominate in the field of English criminal justice history.' H-Net

This book examines how the law was made, defined, administered, and used in eighteenth-century England. A team of leading international historians explore the ways in which legal concerns and procedures came to permeate society and reflect on eighteenth-century concepts of corruption, oppression, and institutional efficiency. These themes are pursued throughout in a broad range of contributions which include studies of magistrates and courts; the forcible enlistment of soldiers and sailors; the eighteenth-century 'bloody code'; the making of law basic to nineteenth-century social reform; the populace's extension of law's arena to newspapers; theologians' use of assumptions basic to English law; Lord Chief Justice Mansfield's concept of the liberty intrinsic to England; and Blackstone's concept of the framework of English law. The result is an invaluable account of the legal bases of eighteenth-century society which is essential reading for historians at all levels.

1. Introduction Norma Landau
Part I. Law: 2. Dread of the Crown Office: the magistracy and King's Bench 1740–1800 Douglas Hay
3. The trading justice's trade Norma Landau
4. Impressment and the law in eighteenth-century Britain Nicholas Rogers
Part II. Crime: 5. 'Press gangs are better magistrates than the Middlesex justices.' Young offenders, press gangs and prosecution strategies in eighteenth and early nineteenth-century England Peter King
6. Making the 'bloody code'? Forgery legislation in eighteenth-century England Randall McGowen
7. Mapping the criminal law: Blackstone and the categories of English jurisprudence David Lieberman
Part III. Society: 8. After Somerset: Mansfield, slavery and the law in England, 1772–1830 Ruth Paley
9. Religion and the law: evidence, proof and 'matter of fact' 1660–1700 Barbara Shapiro
10. The press and public apologies in eighteenth-century London Donna Andrew
11. Origins of the factory acts: the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act 1802 Joanna Innes.

Subject Areas: Jurisprudence & general issues [LA], Law [L], Social & cultural history [HBTB], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], British & Irish history [HBJD1]