Aspects of Female Criminality in Wales, c. 1730-1830: Evidence from the Court of Great Sessions Catherine E. Horler-Underwood A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of History, Archaeology and Religion Cardiff University 2014 i Summary This thesis draws on the extensive, underexplored records of the Court of Great Sessions for the period 1730-1830 to examine the nature and extent of Welsh women’s involvement in a range of serious crimes. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, it provides an in-depth analysis of the characteristics of women indicted for various criminal activities, including crimes against the person and against the public peace, and offers explanations for their involvement, as far as the records allow. Information regarding the age, social position, and marital status of the female defendants has been compiled and analysed, and the extent to which these factors affected judicial outcomes is demonstrated. The broad geographical and chronological scope of this study also provides an insight into links between levels and types of crime involving women and their location, as well as changes over time. It is argued that there were distinctly gendered elements in the offences committed by women, the motivations attributed to them, and their treatment by the courts. There is no comparable study of female crime in the period encompassed by this thesis. Many historians of crime have wrongly assumed that experiences in Wales and England were the same, and both countries have often been analysed interchangeably. Welsh criminals, women included, have rarely been considered in their own right. Studies of cr ime in ‘England and Wales’ have too often failed to fully appreciate the distinctiveness of Wales. This thesis addresses these shortcomings, demonstrating that Welsh experiences of crime were unique in many respects. In so doing, it provides an unparalleled contribution to our understanding of female crime and gender relations in Wales during the long eighteenth century. ii Declaration This work has not been submitted in substance for any other degree or award at this or any other university or place of learning, nor is being submitted concurrently in candidature for any degree or other award. Signed …………………...……………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed …………………… ....... ………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. The views expressed are my own. Signed ……………… ... ………………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ……………………… ... ………… (candidate) Date ………………………… STATEMENT 4: PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BAR ON ACCESS I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Academic Standards & Quality Committee. Signed …………………………… ... …… (candidate) Date ………………………… iii Contents Summary i Declaration ii Contents iii Tables and Figures iv Acknowledgements vi Prefatory note vii Abbreviations vii i Chapter One Introduction 1 Chapter Two ‘Being moved and seduced by the instigation of the 23 devil’: fatal female violence Chapter Three ‘Her belly now is a great deal less’: newborn child 55 murder Chapter Four ‘Beat, wound and ill -treat’: non -fatal violence 89 Chapter Five ‘Against the peace of our said Lord the King’: riots, 128 routs and unlawful assemblies Chapter Six ‘Unlawfully and injuriously did rescue, take, and 156 lead away’: forcible rescue and forcible entry and detainer Chapter Seven ‘Well knowing the same to be false and 183 counterfeit’: currency and forgery offences Chapter Eight ‘False acts, colours and pretences’: conspiracy, 217 perjury and fraud Chapter Nine Conclusion 243 Bibliography 258 iv Tables and Figures Table 2.1. Age, marital and social status of women indicted for 28 murder Table 2.2. Composition of groups including women indicted for 29 murder Table 2.3. Place of prosecution of women indicted for murder 31 Table 2.4 . Sex of murder victims and their relationship to female 32 defendants Table 2.5. Methods of murder used by women, organised by age 37 and sex of victim Table 2.6. Outcomes for female defendants in murder and 52 manslaughter cases Table 3.1. Marital status of women indicted for infanticide 61 (excluding accessories) Table 3.2. Age of women indicted for infanticide (including 63 accessories) in the sample periods Table 3.3. Place of prosecution of women indicted for infanticide 68 (excluding accessories) Table 3.4. Outcomes for female defendants in infanticide cases 81 (excluding accessories) Table 4.1. Number of defendants indicted for assault 95 Table 4.2. Number of defendants indicted for assault in the 98 sample periods (as a percentage of the total) Table 4.3. Marital status of women indicted for assault 100 Table 4 .4. Composition of groups including women indicted for 102 assault Table 4.5. Size and composition of groups including women 103 indicted for assault Table 4.6. Social status of women indicted for assault 106 Table 4.7. Place of prosecution of women indicted for assault 108 Table 4.8. Pleas of female and male defendants in assault cases 123 Table 4.9. Outcomes for female defendants in assault cases 124 Table 4.10. Sentences for female and male defendants in assault 126 cases Table 5.1. Marital status of women indicted for riot 134 Table 5 .2 . Identifiable size of rioting group s involving female 137 defendants Table 5.3. Social status of married women indicted for riot 138 Table 5.4. Place of prosecution of women indicted for riot 140 Table 5.5. Outcomes for female defendants in riot cases 153 Table 6 .1. Marital status of women indicted for forcible rescue 159 Table 6.2. Size and composition of groups including women 161 indicted for forcible rescue Table 6.3. Social status of married women indicted for forcible 162 rescue v Table 6.4. Marital status of women indicted for forcible entry and 171 detainer Table 6.5. Social status of married women indicted for forcible 173 entry and detainer Table 6.6. Size and composition of groups including women 175 indicted for forcible entry and detainer Table 6.7. Outcomes for female defendants in forcible rescue 179 cases Table 6.8. Outcomes for female defendants in forcible entry and 180 detainer cases Table 7.1. Number of women indicted for currency and forgery 189 offences Table 7.2. Marital and social status of women indicted for 192 currency and forgery offences Table 7.3. Composition of groups including women indicted for 193 currency and forgery offences Table 7.4. Age of women indicted for c urrency and forgery 195 offences Table 7.5. Age of women indicted for c urrency and forgery 196 offences , organised by marital status Table 7.6. Place of prosecution of women indicted for c urrency 205 and forgery offences Table 7.7. Outcomes for female defendants in currency and 213 forgery cases Table 8.1. Marital status and age of women indicted for 220 conspiracy, perjury and fraud , 1730 -1830 Table 8.2. Outcomes for female defendants in perjury, conspiracy , 240 and fraud cases , 1730 -1830 Figure 1. Map of Wales showing county divisions 14 vi Acknowledgements In writing this thesis I have incurred numerous debts of gratitude. Firstly, I would like to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Department of History and Welsh History at Cardiff University for funding the research. The Glamorgan County History Trust also generously funded two trips to enable me to conduct essential research and for that I am incredibly appreciative. I would like to express my thanks to the staff at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, for their patience in retrieving the countless gaol files which were consulted as part of this study. Their professionalism and friendliness, particularly at the end of many a long day in the reading room, was welcomed. To my supervisor, and friend, Dr Garthine Walker, I am especially grateful. Her knowledge and expertise in this field are inspirational, and I continue to read her research with particular admiration. Her comments and support have been essential in the completion of this work, and without her unfaltering guidance it would simply not have been possible. During the course of my doctoral candidature my family, through marriage, has increased in size. Charles and Jane Underwood, Lindsey and Tom Alton, and Betty Harvey deserve special thanks for their words of encouragement and for listening, sometime bemusedly, to the progress of the thesis. The late Howard Harvey also witnessed this study’s commencement, but unfortunately did no t see its completion. During its early stages, he listened intently to my ideas and continued to keep me on my toes with the most thought-provoking questions almost until the very end. I would like to thank my parents, John and Barbara Horler, and my sister, Sarah-Jane. I had the pleasure of growing up in a family with a passion for History, and where my ambitions were always encouraged. From an early age my determination to complete a Ph.D. was encouraged and without the continued support of my family, both emotionally and financially, I certainly would not have succeeded. Finally, the debt to my husband, Tom, I fear can never be repaid. During the final stages of this study he fought, and overcame, a life-threatening illness. While in hospital he continued to offer words of encouragement, and attempted, on several occasions, to send me away from his bedside so that I may continue writing.