London history 4

• Engels
• MBO
• Studiejaar 2

London's Horrible History

In four lessons we'll be learning about the horrid things that have happened in London.

Goal:

By the end of the lesson you'll know more about 1 historical event + 1 important figure of London's past.

Today you'll be hearing more about 18th Century Crime and Punishment in England and King Henry VIII...

Task: 

Listen and watch + do the activities in class. 

This is your final bit of history before our school trip to London so pay attention!

Make sure you hand in all the (previous) assignments before Friday!!!

Henry VIII

Name: Henry VIII

Nicknames: 

Old Coppernose

Age: 55

Occupation: King of England

Trademark appearance:

Blingy jewellery. Large codpiece. 

Rich, colourful, expensive layered clothes.

Profile

Favourite hangouts:

Palaces, banquets, churches.

Likes: sporting, beheading, divorcing, eating banquets.

Dislikes: treason, traitors.

Looking for: 

Wife number 7; pretty, fertile, submissive.

A woman who will attend to his every need. 

Must be able to produce a (male) hair to his throne.

https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/henry-viii/videos

18th Century 

Crime and Punishment

in England

Back in the day, courts were very different. 

Prisoners were not allowed to see evidence against them before trial, but they needed to produce a written defence. This should be read aloud in court. 

The problem was that poor people often couldn't read ór write!

Judges on the other hand, were usually well educated, wealthy and a lot older. Very often they judged and condemned those from a much lower social class and they didn't always give a fair verdict. They would give a: 'guilty' or 'very guilty'.

If prisoners (until 1774) were found 'not guilty' in trial they would still pay 'jailor's fees'. But mostly they couldn't pay and they would still be sent back to prison (this time as debtors). 

'Guilty' or 'Very Guilty'?

This is the middle of the 18th Centruy and London is the jail capital of Europe. 

The jails stink, but not as much as the English justice system!

It is unpredicable, disorganised and the toughest it has ever been. There is a not really a 

police force, levels of crime are high and there is a need for low cost punishments. 

Punishments range from standing in the pillory, to branding, whipping and burning. 

Death is the penalty for over 200 offences. 

Even children are hanged. 

This is not a good time to be on trial...

Activity 1

A. Which of the crimes on the right do you think is the most serious? Put them in order from least serious to most.

B. Which of these crimes do you think were punishable by death in the 18th Century?

shooting a rabbit

adultery

piracy on the high seas

forging a birth certificate

communicating information to the enemy

setting fire to your house / to your mother's house

sheep sealing

cutting down fruit trees

stealing a pocket handkerchief

adopting a disguise

picking pockets

burglary

rebellion against the Government

passing of forged bank notes / forgery

murder

poisoning the wells

stealing of shop goods

association with gypsies

being found upon the King's highway with a sooty face

Activity 2

You are going to role play an 18th Century trial. Make sure that the court runs like it would have then, with the victim putting forward the case and the evidence, and the accused persons defending themselves. 

What will your 18th Century style verdict be?

Read the case on the next slide!

The Case

13th June 1729 - It is alledged that the two women, Mary Wetherspoon and Catherine Freeman, went into a grocer's shop in London City, where they saw there was only one person to serve them. Mary pretended to buy some flour, and while the shopkeeper was weighing it, used a piece of whalebone dipped in some sticky substance, to steal coins out of the till. 

The plot was uncovered as the last shilling fell from the whalebone to the counter, making a noise. 

It is said that the master of the shop missed some shillings at another time when the two women had been at the shop to buy some goods. 

We need 4 volunteers to play the following characters:

- Judge Snade

- Prosecutor John Goldsmith

- Person accused: Catherine Freeman 

- Person accused: Mary Wetherspoon

Hand it in next week
(print it out please)!!!

Make sure you have handed in all your London's History work before Friday!