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Bloody Code
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>In 1689 there were 50 offences on the statute book punishable by death in <a href="/facts/England_and_Wales/nRu8tsxR">England and Wales</a>, but that number had almost quadrupled by 1776,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> and it reached 220 by the end of the century.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> Most of the new laws introduced during that period were concerned with the defence of property, which some commentators have interpreted as a form of class suppression of the poor by the rich.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> <a href="/facts/George_Savile%2c_1st_Marquess_of_Halifax/N9u5gKMG">George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax</a>, expressed a contemporary view when he said that "Men are not hanged for stealing horses, but <a href="/facts/Deterrence_(penology)/UYcF0oPe">that horses may not be stolen</a>."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Grand_larceny/ezHhNXtl">Grand larceny</a> was one of the crimes that drew the death penalty; it was defined as the theft of goods worth more than 12 <a href="/facts/Penny_(English_coin)/yBBl5Wf8">pence</a>, about one-twentieth of the weekly wage for a skilled worker at the time.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> As the 18th century proceeded, jurors often deliberately under-assessed the value of stolen goods in order to avoid a <a href="/facts/Mandatory_death_sentence/QD5SHG7g">mandatory death sentence</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> In the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Ireland/bQ5PhuTB">Kingdom of Ireland</a>, a subordinate but separate state, a similar "Bloody Code" existed, but there were not as many capital crimes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p><p>As the number of capital crimes increased, lawmakers sought a less harsh punishment that might still deter potential offenders, and penal transportation with a term of indentured servitude became a more common punishment. This trend was expanded by the <a href="/facts/Transportation_Act_1717/yaWbHwlv">Transportation Act 1717</a> (16 Geo. 3 c.43), which regulated and subsidised the practice, until its use was suspended by the Criminal Law Act 1776.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> With the <a href="/facts/Thirteen_Colonies/H50dauTJ">American Colonies</a> already in <a href="/facts/American_Revolutionary_War/8MxJNtcU">active rebellion</a>, parliament claimed its continuance was "found to be attended with various inconveniences, particularly by depriving this kingdom of many subjects whose labour might be useful to the community, and who, by proper care and correction, might be reclaimed from their evil course." This law would become known as the Hard Labour Act and the Hulks Act for both its purpose and <a href="/facts/Prison_ship/DWQeQjqd">its result</a>. With the removal of the important transportation alternative to the death penalty, it would in part prompt the use of prisons for punishment and the start of prison building programmes.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> In 1785 <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australia</a> was deemed a suitably desolate place to <a href="/facts/Convicts_in_Australia/qy6gdGrw">transport convicts</a>; transportation resumed, now to a specifically planned <a href="/facts/Penal_colony/63twBQ8y">penal colony</a>, with the departure of the <a href="/facts/First_Fleet/wDLRcs5U">First Fleet</a> in 1787. It has been estimated that over one-third of all criminals convicted between 1788 and 1867 were transported to Australia, including <a href="/facts/Van_Diemen%2527s_Land/IXcM6oRz">Van Diemen's Land</a> (now <a href="/facts/Tasmania/q3dubPTt">Tasmania</a>). Some criminals could escape transportation if they agreed to join the <a href="/facts/British_Army/StuY9Jy2">British Army</a>. Jurist <a href="/facts/William_Blackstone/MY3xeRKv">William Blackstone</a> said of the Bloody Code: </p> <blockquote><p>It is a melancholy truth, that among the variety of actions which men are daily liable to commit, no less than a hundred and sixty have been declared by <a href="/facts/Act_of_Parliament/aaxV1HXy">Act of Parliament</a> to be felonious without <a href="/facts/Benefit_of_clergy/zzWN0Wkb">benefit of clergy</a>; or, in other words, to be worthy of instant death.</p></blockquote> <p><a href="/facts/Leon_Radzinowicz/pVdMItVP">Leon Radzinowicz</a> listed 49 pages of "Capital Statutes of the Eighteenth Century" divided into 21 categories:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p> <ol><li><a href="/facts/High_treason/lqT6ECtV">High treason</a>, including offences against the <a href="/facts/Succession_to_the_British_throne/nvHcSmsu">Protestant succession</a> and the <a href="/facts/Religion_in_the_United_Kingdom/Va4BjVFm">Protestant establishment</a></li> <li>Other offences against the State</li> <li>Offences against public order, including <a href="/facts/Riot/x3wtz4CM">riot</a> and destruction of <a href="/facts/Flood_defence/rf0476SJ">flood defences</a> and bridges</li> <li>Offences against the <a href="/facts/Administration_of_justice/TpTHrac5">administration of justice</a></li> <li>Offences against <a href="/facts/Public_health/4563Kre9">public health</a></li> <li>Offences against <a href="/facts/HM_Revenue_and_Customs/H6NQKDN1">public revenue</a>, including <a href="/facts/Smuggling/BdPclLAp">smuggling</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Petty_treason/g8TQrEfp">Petty treason</a> and <a href="/facts/Murder/GV3zvVYY">murder</a></li> <li>Stabbing, maiming and shooting at any person</li> <li><a href="/facts/Rape/7RLDwHCN">Rape</a>, <a href="/facts/Bride_kidnapping/hjhLfzh8">forcible abduction</a> and other <a href="/facts/Sexual_offence/PuPKNTqX">sexual offences</a></li> <li>Simple <a href="/facts/Grand_larceny/ezHhNXtl">grand larceny</a> and allied offences</li> <li><a href="/facts/Burglary/6dMK7SHD">Burglary</a> and allied offences</li> <li>Larceny from the person</li> <li>Larceny and <a href="/facts/Embezzlement/I93p3Xj2">embezzlement</a> by servants, <a href="/facts/General_Post_Office/gnMB2RHN">Post Office</a> employees, clerks and other <a href="/facts/Law_of_agency/IMJuJAC0">agents</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Blackmail/KJjm5fgJ">Blackmail</a></li> <li>Offences by <a href="/facts/Bankrupt/EAztPnMf">bankrupts</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Forgery/I9De2P20">Forgery</a> of deeds, bonds, testaments, bills of exchange, stocks, stamps, banknotes, etc.</li> <li>Falsely <a href="/facts/Personating/grjJqIl6">personating</a> another with intent to defraud</li> <li>Destroying ships to the prejudice of <a href="/facts/Marine_insurance/GPNM17Ve">insurance</a> companies</li> <li><a href="/facts/Coin/lgpMPxrB">Coinage</a> offences</li> <li>Malicious injuries to property, including <a href="/facts/Arson/tzNIWYgd">arson</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Piracy/7HjKaWFC">Piracy</a></li></ol> <h2 id="relaxation-of-the-law">Relaxation of the law</h2> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_Kingdom/D9YNgklj">Capital punishment in the United Kingdom</a></p> <p>In 1823, the <a href="/facts/Judgement_of_Death_Act_1823/PqX1Vcrv">Judgement of Death Act 1823</a> made the death penalty discretionary for all crimes except treason and murder. Gradually during the middle of the nineteenth century the number of capital offences was reduced, and by 1861 was down to five. The last execution in the UK took place in 1964, and the death penalty was legally abolished in the following years for the crimes of: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Murder/GV3zvVYY">Murder</a>, 1969 in England, Wales and Scotland, and 1973 in Northern Ireland</li> <li><a href="/facts/Arson_in_royal_dockyards/MIVCs3To">Arson in royal dockyards</a>, 1971</li> <li><a href="/facts/Espionage/oaDJ5fAd">Espionage</a>, 1981</li> <li><a href="/facts/Piracy_with_violence/z1MPK5DH">Piracy with violence</a>, September 1998</li> <li><a href="/facts/Treason/lqT6ECtV">Treason</a>, September 1998</li> <li>Six military offences, November 1998</li></ul> <p>Reintroduction of the death penalty under any circumstances was prohibited by treaty (<a href="/facts/European_Convention_on_Human_Rights/yEyFjz25">Protocol 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights</a>) in 2004. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Black_Act_1723/m2K7Abgk">Black Act 1723</a></li></ul> <h2 id="citations">Citations</h2> <h2 id="general-sources">General sources</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Leon_Radzinowicz/pVdMItVP">Radzinowicz, Leon</a> (1948). <a href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.238530/"><i>A History Of English Criminal Law and its Administration</i></a>. Vol. I: <i>The Movement for Reform</i>. London: Stevens & Sons.</li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Brodeur, Jean-Paul; McCormick, Kevin R. E.; Visano, Livy A. (1992), "High Policing and Low Policing: Remarks about the Policing of Political Activities", <a href="https://archive.org/details/understandingpol0000unse_o7k7"><i>Understanding Policing</i></a>, Canadian Scholars’ Press, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 1-55130-005-2</li> <li>Glyn-Jones, Anne (2000), <i>Holding up a Mirror: How Civilizations Decline</i> (Revised 2nd ed.), Imprint Academic, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-907845-60-7</li> <li>Sharpe, Jim (2001), "Crime, Order and Historical Change", in Muncie, John; McLaughlin, Eugene (eds.), <i>The Problem of Crime</i> (2nd ed.), Sage Publications, pp. 107–150, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-7619-6971-6</li> <li>Wade, Stephen (2009), <i>Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen</i>, Wharncliffe Local History, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-84563-082-9</li> <li>Wilf, Steven (2010), <i>Law's Imagined Republic: Popular Politics and Criminal Justice in Revolutionary America</i>, Cambridge University Press, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-521-14528-2</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070930223055/http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=10403">Amnesty International: History of the Abolition of the Death Penalty in the UK</a></li> <li><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8181192.stm">Rough justice – Victorian style, BBC News</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>O'Mahony, Paul (September 8, 2002). Criminal Justice in Ireland. Institute of Public Administration. ISBN 9781902448718 – via Google Books. <a href="9781902448718" target="_blank">9781902448718</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Campbell, Noel (2 June 2017). "The long road from the Bloody Code". Mayo Advertiser. Retrieved 15 May 2023. <a href="https://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/92961/the-long-road-from-the-bloody-code" target="_blank">https://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/92961/the-long-road-from-the-bloody-code</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>King, Peter; Ward, Richard (10 August 2015). "Rethinking the Bloody Code in Eighteenth-Century Britain: Capital Punishment at the Centre and on the Periphery". Past & Present. 228 (1): 159–205. doi:10.1093/pastj/gtv026. PMC 5955207. PMID 29780182. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/past/article/228/1/159/1464229" target="_blank">https://academic.oup.com/past/article/228/1/159/1464229</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Walliss, John (2018). The Bloody Code in England and Wales, 1760–1830. World Histories of Crime, Culture and Violence. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74561-9. ISBN 978-3-319-74560-2 – via link.springer.com. <a href="978-3-319-74560-2" target="_blank">978-3-319-74560-2</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Wilf 2010, p. 139. - Wilf, Steven (2010), Law's Imagined Republic: Popular Politics and Criminal Justice in Revolutionary America, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-14528-2 <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Wade 2009, p. 9. - Wade, Stephen (2009), Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen, Wharncliffe Local History, ISBN 978-1-84563-082-9 <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Sharpe 2001, p. 116. - Sharpe, Jim (2001), "Crime, Order and Historical Change", in Muncie, John; McLaughlin, Eugene (eds.), The Problem of Crime (2nd ed.), Sage Publications, pp. 107–150, ISBN 978-0-7619-6971-6 <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Wade 2009, p. 10. - Wade, Stephen (2009), Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen, Wharncliffe Local History, ISBN 978-1-84563-082-9 <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Glyn-Jones 2000, p. 322. - Glyn-Jones, Anne (2000), Holding up a Mirror: How Civilizations Decline (Revised 2nd ed.), Imprint Academic, ISBN 978-0-907845-60-7 <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Glyn-Jones 2000, p. 322. - Glyn-Jones, Anne (2000), Holding up a Mirror: How Civilizations Decline (Revised 2nd ed.), Imprint Academic, ISBN 978-0-907845-60-7 <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Doyle, David M.; O'Callaghan, Liam (January 31, 2020). Capital Punishment in Independent Ireland: A Social, Legal and Political History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781789620276 – via Google Books. <a href="9781789620276" target="_blank">9781789620276</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Britain, Great; Pickering, Danby (September 8, 1775). "The Statutes at Large from the Magna Charta, to the End of the Eleventh Parliament of Great Britain, Anno 1761 [continued to 1806]. By Danby Pickering". J. Bentham – via Google Books. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=B09RAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA262" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=B09RAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA262</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Drew D. Gray, Crime, Policing and Punishment in England, 1660–1914 p. 298 (2016). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=33Y8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT298" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=33Y8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT298</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Radzinowicz 1948, pp. xx–xxi and 611–659 ("Appendix I: Capital Statutes of the Eighteenth Century"). <a href="//archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.238530/page/n20" target="_blank">//archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.238530/page/n20</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>