counting the residuum: managing vagrancy in 19 th century cumbria. guy woolnough policing petty...
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Counting the residuum: managing vagrancy in 19th century Cumbria.
Guy WoolnoughPolicing Petty Crime in Victorian Cumbria
Keele University
Her skin was of Egyptian brown,Haughty, as if her eye had seen
Its own light to a distance thrown, She towered, fit person for a Queen
To lead those ancient Amazonian files; Or ruling Bandit’s wife among the Grecian isles.
Advancing, forth she stretched her handAnd begged an alms with doleful pleaThat ceased not: on our English land
Such woes I knew could never be:And yet a boon I gave her, for the creature
Was beautiful to see – a weed of glorious feature!W.Wordsworth, Beggars, circa 1802. (Poetical Works)
Barry Hindess, The Use of Official Statistics in Sociology (1973)
The basic tools for tackling the problem
The Vagrancy Act, 1824
The Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834
County Police Act, 1856
Ribton-Turner, C.J.,1887. A history of vagrants and vagrancy, and beggars and begging.
House of Commons Papers,, Poor rates and pauperism. Paupers relieved on 1st January 1859I.B.Cohen, The Triumph of numbers: how counting shaped modern life.Cook, D.M., 1997. Poverty, crime and punishment. Stigler, S.M., 1986. The history of statistics the measurement of uncertainty before 1900.
January 1st, 1859. 2,153 vagrants relieved.Relieved in Cumbria:
Indoor, 9 vagrants Outdoor, 24 vagrants.
Thomas Garnett, relieving officer for Kirkby Lonsdale, 1825-28
Aberdeen to Kirkby Lonsdale, 288 miles. Six days at 36 miles per day..Monmouth to Kirkby Lonsdale, 185 miles. Four days, 45 miles per day.
James Bond, born Lancaster, cotton carder, applied for relief at Kirkby Lonsdale, 13th August 1825.
Set off from Lancaster on 11th August, spent last night at Burton in Lonsdale
Reason for journey, “settlement,” going to Burton in Lonsdale
Age, 20 Height: 5' 4 Complexion: “sallah”Eyes: hazel Hair: brown Physique: slenderComment: “he had applied to the overseers at Burton for relief and was refused and came hear to the justices and was without money and very sick “Relief given: 4d
Every night, Cumbrian Police visit vagrant wards
and common lodging houses ‘noting down the
description of all suspicious looking characters . . . .
gives them great facilities for the prevention and
detection of crime – a great proportion of which in
this county is considered to be committed by the
vagrant class.’
Report from 1879Carlisle Record Office DHod 11/119
Cumbria Archives, Carlisle Record Office, Scons 4/70, returns from PCs, Maryport.
Radzinowicz, L., 1968. A history of English criminal law and its administration from 1750, vol. 4. p359
A Maryport Police Constable’s written return of the people staying at a common lodging house, 1879 (?)
July 1st 1898. Almost all vagrants now receive indoor relief
1898 (118B.I) Pauperism (England and Wales). Return (B. I.) Paupers relieved on 1st July 1898.
Indoor relief Outdoor relief Vagrants relieved The insane
Relieved in Cumbria: 1859 Indoor, 9 vagrants Outdoor, 24 vagrants1898 Indoor, 136 vagrants Outdoor, 6 vagrants.
George Brown or GreenBorn London, 1854
Swindon 1888Weymouth 1888Sherbourne 1888Gloucester 1890Kendal 1890
Begging, three timesDrunkObscene languageStealing a vestDestroying clothes in the workhouseOn enclosed premises with intent to commit a felony
Conclusion
The data are unsound
The system deterred vagrants from seeking help.
Relieving officers were not interested in helping vagrants.
The police ignored vagrants unless they ‘needed arresting.’
The personnel and resources deployed to manage vagrancy were unable to understand or reduce the problem at all.
Thomas Garnett showed what a genuine attempt to understand vagrancy might have looked like, but his experience showed that it was not possible in the 19th century.
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