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Property Crime in Late Eighteenth-Century Bristol

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Property Crime in Late Eighteenth-Century Bristol Property Crime in Late Eighteenth-Century Bristol Contexts of Theft in the Pre-Modern City Matt Neale Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Urban History, University of Leicester, May 2012 2 Abstract Matt Neale, ‘Property Crime in Late Eighteenth-Century Bristol: Contexts of Theft in the Pre-Modern City’, PhD thesis (University of Leicester, 2012). This thesis examines property crime in the city of Bristol, in south-west England, between 1770 and 1800. It uses documents produced by the city’s magistrates, and the records of its civic administration, to study the locations and socio-cultural contexts of theft. There are several arguments which weave through this material. Firstly, it is argued that the city was a location of distinctive social structures and institutions, which shaped the ways that crime occurred. It considers the circulation of stolen goods and the manner in which the city was policed, particularly in relation to the impact that this had on offenders’ behaviour. Secondly, this thesis argues that the nature of theft was highly contingent on its context. The ways in which thefts from houses, ships, alehouses and shops were mutually distinctive are illustrated. The chapters on alehouses and stolen goods markets also attempt to evaluate the importance of social connections to acts of crime, and to consider the place of crime within plebeian culture. The study of crime can, therefore, be a lens through which we can examine the economic and social life of the pre-modern city. Furthermore, it is not just thieves who are the focus of study in this thesis: victims’ responses to crime, and the extent to which crime was an important factor in the organisation of their everyday lives, are issues which are critically considered. Finally, this thesis aims to provide a study of provincial crime which can be compared to previous historians’ studies of other places such as London. While this inevitably produces a story in which there are both continuities and differences, it is ultimately argued that the notion of ‘the city’ presents a useful category for the analysis of crime. 3 Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Rosemary Sweet, who provided so much helpful advice and guidance throughout the production of this thesis, and in the many years that I have been a student at Leicester. I am also grateful to the Economic and Social Research Council for funding this thesis, and the MA that preceded it. The Institute of Historical Research awarded me a junior fellowship in the academic year 2011-12, the first six months of which were generously funded by the Scouloudi Foundation. Cambridge University Press gave me permission to include chapter 6 in both the printed and electronic versions of this thesis. I am grateful to the anonymous referees and copyeditor of Continuity and Change for their input. Chapter 3 benefited from the detailed and helpful comments of Steve Poole, who has provided invaluable advice and support in many other ways. The chapters which are presented here differ in some ways from those which have been or will be published, and all errors are my own. Thanks also to Bristol Reference Library, Bristol Record Office and the Centre for English Local History at the University of Leicester for permission to reproduce images from their collections in this thesis. Parts of this thesis were presented at Leicester, the Urban History Group conference, the University of the West of England, the Pre-Modern Towns Group meeting, the Institute of Historical Research, the Centre for Metropolitan History and the Social History Society conference. Thank you to the participants at these events for their helpful feedback, and to the convenors for inviting me to speak. 4 My thanks go to all the friends I have made while studying at the Centre for Urban History in Leicester. Siobhán Begley, Robyn Cooper, Tom Hulme, John Mitchell, Jack Mockford, Gill Murray and Marion Pluskota all provided advice or encouragement which directly shaped the development of this thesis in some way. The same applies to Lucy Faire and Chris Williams, who have given me their support and lent me their expertise on so many occasions. The staff at Bristol Reference Library and Bristol Record Office went to great lengths in their efforts to supply me with material. Finally, I must thank the family members whose consistent support has made this thesis possible. Neil and Sally, and Helen and Mark, provided much encouragement in addition to helpful advice. My grandparents, too, have displayed such a heartening interest in my work. Finally, I thank my parents and Hannah. 5 Contents Abbreviations.............................................................................................................................. 7 Figures, tables and appendices ................................................................................................ 8 Figures ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Tables ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 9 1 Historiography, aims and sources ............................................................................... 10 Historiographical context .................................................................................................... 11 Aims and issues .................................................................................................................... 16 Sources ................................................................................................................................... 24 2 Bristol in the eighteenth century .................................................................................. 36 The economy ......................................................................................................................... 36 Civic identity ......................................................................................................................... 39 Institutions and governance ............................................................................................... 43 3 Maritime trade, theft and the urban milieu................................................................ 51 Theft from ships ................................................................................................................... 55 Crime and the port city........................................................................................................ 62 Warehouses ........................................................................................................................... 66 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 70 4 Crime and retail culture ................................................................................................ 73 Shoplifting and retail culture .............................................................................................. 75 Credit and false pretences ................................................................................................... 80 Forgery and the use of money ............................................................................................ 81 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 98 5 Alehouses, pickpockets and the social side of stealing .......................................... 101 Theft in alehouses ............................................................................................................... 104 Alehouses as social institutions ........................................................................................ 109 Pickpocketing and personal contact ................................................................................ 115 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 123 6 Houses, theft and the routines of everyday life ....................................................... 125 Burglary ............................................................................................................................... 128 Daytime thefts by outsiders .............................................................................................. 132 ‘Insiders’ and theft ............................................................................................................. 140 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 149 7 Stolen goods and negotiating informal markets ..................................................... 151 Stolen goods and the informal economy......................................................................... 155 Second-hand markets and risk ......................................................................................... 160 Stolen goods and the use of associates ............................................................................ 165 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................
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