Combating London’s Criminal Class: A State Divided, 1869–95

Description

The criminal class were seen as a violent, immoral and dissolute sub-section of Victorian London’s population. Making their living through crime and openly hostile to society, their lives were characterised by drunkenness, theft and brutality. This book explores whether this criminal class did indeed truly exist, and how effective were the measures brought against them? Tracing the notion of the criminal class from as early as the 16th century, this book questions whether this sub-section of society did indeed exist. Bach discusses how unease of London’s notorious rookeries, the frenzy of media attention and a general panic among the general public enforced and encouraged the fear of the ‘criminal class’ and perpetuated state efforts of social control. Using the Habitual Criminal Bills, this book explores how and why this legislation was introduced to deal with repeat offenders, and assesses how successful its repressive measures were. Demonstrating how Metropolitan Police and London's Magistrates were not always willing tools of the British state, this book uses court records and private correspondence to reveal how inconsistent and unsuccessful many of these measures and punishments were, and calls into question the notion that the state gained control over recidivists in this period. Cover Contents List of Tables Acknowledgements Introduction 1 The Origins of the Habitual Criminals Act 1869: ‘Our Wretched Little Bill’ 2 Repeal and Reintroduction: Parliamentary Debate and the Question of Liberty 3 Registering Habitual Criminals: A ‘Salutary Control’? 4 Police Supervision of the Criminal Class: A Spy System 5 Sentencing Repeat Offenders: Leniency and Severity in the Late Nineteenth Century Conclusion Bibliography Index