| Subject | Poachers, Thugs and Thieves |
|---|---|
| Speaker/Organiser | Des Hoar |
| Date | September 14, 2016 |
Details
A detailed analysis of Petty Session Court records was supported by checks on police records, newspaper reports and Quarter Session minutes. The crimes analysed were a sample taken from each of the census years between 1841 and 1911. The study of corresponding census data allowed an investigation of the background circumstances of both defendants and plaintiffs. Crimes were categorised according to type and the severity of sentencing was studied over the 70 year period. The assumptions about rural crimes, and in particular Game Law crimes, were tested. The resulting book includes some of the stories of some of the areas habitual criminals.