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Courses / Modules / HIST3076 Crime and Punishment in England c.1688-1840 part 2

Crime and Punishment in England c.1688-1840 part 2

When you'll study it
Semester 2
CATS points
30
ECTS points
15
Level
Level 6
Module lead
Julie Gammon
Academic year
2025-26

Module overview

This course will span the period c.1688-c.1840, beginning with the reforms of the criminal code introduced following the Glorious Revolution, known as the ‘Bloody Code’, and concluding in the mid-nineteenth century with the introduction of the police force under Peel and the first acts removing capital punishment from felonies. You will be asked to consider why the legal system moved away from capital punishment towards firstly the transportation and ultimately the imprisonment of felons and what led to the establishment of the police force. You will be introduced to a wide range of sources for examining the history of crime and punishment, both qualitative and quantitative. In looking at punishment, the ideas of Beccaria, Howard and Bentham will be examined in addition to prison and Home Office records. The material of Colquhoun and Peel form the basis of a consideration of early policing. A final component of the course will be to address modern representations of the history of crime and punishment through the watching of films and documentaries (ranging from Dick Turpin to Blackadder) to examine and deconstruct some of the myths that have grown up around the period and subject.

Linked modules

HIST3075