This is the first in a series of "lectures" in which I will help you, the player, get familiar with the Restoration period, and London in specific. We make learning...FUN!!!
Justice:
In the 17th century, the City of London began paying watchmen to guard the streets at night. In general, the night watchmen provided ineffectual protection for the public, as they were usually elderly gentlemen or other seemingly unemployable individuals, but for the next hundred or so years, they were the only public policing body in the capital.
On the outskirts of London a group of police officers called the Bow Street Runners, or "Robin Redbreasts" (on account of the red waistcoats they wore as a uniform), were far more successful against highway robbery.
As the central criminal court for the City of London and the County of Middlesex, the Old Bailey was the court where all trials took place for serious crimes which occurred in the London area north of the Thames. This includes all trials for felony (all crimes which were, or had been at one time, punishable by death), and some of the most serious misdemeanours. Specific offences were defined either by common or statute law. During this period, numerous statutes defined new offences (often as a result of the new types of property which came into use), and many more statutes were passed in order to specify more severe punishments for offences which already existed. Often differences between what appear to be similar offences are significant because one was punishable by death and the other was not.
With the exception of certain types of riot and assault, most of these offences were misdemeanors, and not punishable by death. Most trials for these offences therefore occurred at an inferior court, the Sessions of the Peace, and not at the Old Bailey. Only the most serious cases would have been tried at the Old Bailey.
Aristocrats arrested could be thrown in the Tower upon such offenses. The King was able to provide pardon, which he would not do if it proved to be too unpopular. It was common to have bought witnesses and judges at the proceedings.
Damage to Property
* burning hayricks or stalks of corn
* killing or maiming domestic (farm) animals
* cutting down, destroying and removing trees, roots, or plants
* cutting down a riverbank
* destroying a fish pond
* cutting or defacing a piece of clothing while it was worn
* cutting and destroying silk in a loom, or damaging the tools used for silk weaving
* demolishing or attempting to demolish a house (when not part of a riot)
* breaking and entering a building (not a dwelling house) with intent to steal
* arson (malicious and wilful setting fire to a house or outhouses)
Deception
* Bankruptcy
* Forgery
* Fraud
* Perjury
Breaking the Peace
* Assault
* Barratry
* Libel
* Riot
* Threatening Behaviour
* Vagabonding
Killing
* Infanticide
* Manslaughter
* Murder
* Petty Treason
Offences against the King
* Coining
* Religious Offences
* Seditious Libel
* Seditious Words
* Seducing from Allegiance
* Tax Offences
* Treason
Sexual Offences
* Assault with Intent to Rape
* Assault with Sodomitical Intent
* Bigamy
* Keeping a Brothel
* Rape
* Sodomy
Theft
* Animal Theft
* Burglary
* Embezzlement
* Extortion and Blackmail
* Game Law Offences
* Housebreaking
* Petty Larceny
* Pickpocketing
* Receiving Stolen Goods
* Shoplifting
* Simple Grand Larceny
* Theft from a Specified Place
Theft with Violence
* Highway Robbery
* Robbery
All Other Offences
* Conspiracy
* Kidnapping
* Perverting Justice
* Piracy
*Returning from Transportation
