London, A Very Peculiar History by Jim Pipe

Author:Jim Pipe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: britain, city, british, cockney, royal, england, funny, quirky, odd, stories, facts, food, timeline, english, tourism, culture, war, blitz
ISBN: 9781908759122
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2012
Published: 2012-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

Given that London was dogged by crime in those days, you might be shocked to learn that just 300 unarmed, part-time constables patrolled its streets. You’d be less surprised to know that some parts of the capital were no-go areas ruled by gangs. Until the 18th century, London’s streets were guarded by its citizens, who took turns to watch from the city walls and patrol the streets on foot. These watchmen, or ‘Charleys’, were figures of fun and were frequently attacked in public. In the 1750s Henry Fielding set up the Bow Street Runners, nicknamed ‘Raw Lobsters’ due to their red vests. But it soon became clear that the Runners were in cahoots with the villains.

Prisons and harsh punishments were the main weapons in the fight against crime. For lesser crimes, you could be punished by being:

• dragged through the streets

• fined

• whipped

• put in the pillory, where passers-by could hurl abuse and rotten food at you

• branded with a hot iron

• shipped to the Americas or (later) Australia.

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