Whores and Highwaymen

Book excerpt: The ‘whores’ and ‘highwaymen’ of Gregory Durston’s title are just some of the dubious characters met within this absorbing work, including thief-takers, trading justices, an upstart legal profession whose lower orders developed various ways to line their own pockets and magistrates and clerks who often preferred dealing with those cases which attracted fees. The book shows how little was planned by government or the authorities, and how much sprang up due to the efforts of individuals—so that the origins of social control, particularly at a local level, had much to do with personal ideas of morality, class boundaries and perceived threats, serious and otherwise. Based on news reports, Old Bailey and local archives, and other solid records the book weaves a compelling picture of a critical time in English history, through the voices of contemporary observers as well as the best of writings by experts ever since. At its broadest point, the book spans the period from the Glorious Revolution to the early 1820s. It falls into three parts: Crime and the Metropolis—including Metropolitan crime, attitudes to crime and policing, explanations for crime, and criminal law and procedure. Policing—including policing the metropolis, constables, the watch, beadles, the role of the military, and the detection of crime. Justice—including the magistracy and its work, ways of prosecution, trial in the lower and higher courts, and the penal regimes of the day. A colourful account, which captures the essence of the period.