47:
353:. Other criminalised activities included fishing, the hunting of hares, the destruction of fish-ponds, the destruction of trees and the killing of cattle in those locations, the last of which also punishable by death. An offender could also be executed for setting fire to corn, hay, straw, wood, houses or barns or shooting another person. The same penalties applied to attempting to rescue anyone imprisoned under the Black Act or attempting to solicit other people to participate in crimes that violated it. In total, the Act introduced the death penalty for over 350 criminal acts.
324:
robbed the late Bishop of
Winchester's Park, and have increased in their number ever since. They go by the name of the Waltham Blacks (tho few of them live there) which is a most loyal little town. ... I once saw two hundred and upwards of these Blacks in a body within half a mile of my house. They had been running brandy. There was 24 customs officers following them who they abused heartily and carried off their cargo. I am told there is no less than a thousand of them and indeed I believe they have now taken loyalty into their heads, and will I hope prove very useful.
180:
death penalty for over 350 criminal offences, including being found disguised in a forest and carrying a weapon; "no other single statute passed during the eighteenth century equalled in severity, and none appointed the punishment of death in so many cases". A criminal law reform campaign in the early 19th century caused it to be largely repealed on 8 July 1823, when a reform bill introduced by
168:, known as the Blacks from their habit of blacking their faces when they undertook the raids. The Act was expanded over the years and greatly strengthened the criminal code by specifying over 200 capital crimes, many with intensified punishment. Arson, for example, had its definition expanded to include the new crime of burning (or threatening to burn) haystacks.
275:"An Act for the more effectual punishing wicked and evil disposed Persons going armed in Disguise and doing Injuries and Violence to the Persons and Properties of His Majesty's Subjects, and for the more speedy bringing the Offenders to Justice", to Parliament on 26 April 1723. It came into force on 27 May.
318:
had been discovered in August 1722. It quickly became known to the Dutch ambassador that Goring had requested the
Waltham Blacks' support for a Jacobite rising. The ambassador wrote that the Blacks were originally a group of smugglers and that their Jacobite allegiance was the primary reason for the
380:
Modern scholars have differed in their view of whether the Blacks were
Jacobites. Some argue that the links between the Blacks and the Jacobites were "fantasies" and that the Blacks were "simply a mixed group of foresters: labourers, yeomen and some gentry defending their customary rights". Others,
247:
Blacks". After the convictions, the poachers decided to attack the Bishop's property again, which demonstrated "a calculated programme of action, and a conscious social resentment" that distinguished them from normal poachers. In reprisal for the earlier arrests and sentences, they took 11 deer and
179:
collapse and the ensuing economic downturn. The Blacks quickly demonstrated both "a calculated programme of action, and a conscious social resentment", and their activities led to the introduction of the Black Act to
Parliament on 26 April 1723. The Act came into force on 27 May and introduced the
202:
171:
The legal rights of suspects and defendants under this Act were strictly limited. For example, suspects who did not surrender within 40 days could be summarily judged guilty and sentenced to execution, so that if they were apprehended at a later date they could be executed without delay. Villages
323:
I had settled an affair with five gentlemen of that country who were each of them to raise a regiment of dragoons well mounted and well armed which I knew they could easily do for the men had horses and homes of their own, and were, to say the truth most of them, the persons who some time since
411:
introduced a law reform bill that would have repealed the Act, but although it passed through the House of
Commons, it was strongly opposed in the House of Lords. In 1823, he submitted a memo to the House of Commons, again to suggest the repeal of the Act, and a few months later,
366:. Four were sentenced to death for the killing of the gamekeeper's son, and were executed on 15 June 1723. Trials for the others continued into 1724, and seven more were captured and tried on 7 December. That marked the effective end of the Blacks as an organised group.
271:, with a series of increasingly-audacious raids in 1722 and 1723, including one in which a gamekeeper's son was killed. As a response to the apparent spread of purposeful and organized raids by groups of poachers, the government introduced the Black Act,
420:, introduced a bill to repeal most of the Black Act, while maintaining the parts that criminalised setting fire to houses and shooting a person. That repeal passed and came into effect on 8 July 1823. The Black Act was entirely repealed by the
286:
encouraged the spread of that idea to advance his own interests. The rationale for the Act has been described as "at least as much to do with the hysteria induced by
Walpole ... as with any need for new powers to fight deer-stealing".
64:
An Act for the more effectual punishing wicked and evil disposed
Persons going armed in Disguise and doing Injuries and Violence to the Persons and Properties of His Majesty's Subjects, and for the more speedy bringing the Offenders to
242:
and sentenced to a year and a day in prison. The poachers became known as the "Blacks", because of their practice of blackening their faces to prevent identification; most famously, a
Hampshire group became known as the
361:
Three of the Blacks' leaders had already been captured during the passage of the Act although one later escaped, and a series of government raids captured a total of 32 Blacks who were tried after the Act's passage in
201:
394:
that "no other single statute passed during the eighteenth century equalled in severity, and none appointed the punishment of death in so many cases". Efforts to repeal it started in 1810, with comments by
200:
477:
William
Blackstone. Commentaries on the Laws of England. A New Edition, adapted to the Present State of the Law, by Robert Malcolm Kerr. John Murray. Albemarle Street, London. 1857. Volume 4.
263:
to preside over any prosecutions; this forced the
Hampshire Blacks underground. The Windsor Blacks then began their activities, copying the Hampshire group. Their main target was
349:
could be sentenced to death. Similarly, it was an offence to hunt, kill, wound or steal deer in those locations, with the first offence punishable by a fine and the second by
1262:
1272:
1252:
385:
claimed that the Act was "passed not in order to suppress legitimate protest but because organized gangs were destroying deer and planning a Jacobite rising".
218:
collapse, Britain suffered an economic downturn that led to heightened social tensions. A small element of the social unrest was the activity of two groups of
248:
killed many more, which led to a royal proclamation offering £100 (equivalent to £20,000 in 2023) for information that led to the arrest of the gang.
381:
however, have claimed that the Blacks were closely connected with Jacobitism and that the Black Act was designed to combat that political threat. Sir
1267:
238:. Three deer were carried off and two others killed. Four of the poachers were later caught, with two released for lack of evidence and the others
1116:
70:
399:
as part of a wider debate on penal reform. A formal recommendation for its repeal took almost a decade to appear, with the publication of the
1194:
533:
Mackenzie and Johnson (eds). The Law Relating to Municipal Corporations in England and Wales. Fourth Edition. Shaw and Sons. London. 1894.
333:
The Act dealt with any offender who was armed and with a blacked face, armed and otherwise disguised, merely blacked, merely disguised,
403:
in 1819 that marked the first "official" suggestion that the law be removed from the statute books. Following the publication of that
1257:
1233:
James Fitzjames Stephens (ed). Roscoe's Digest of the Law of Evidence in Criminal Cases. Seventh Edition. 1868. Pages 83, 269, 273,
1107:
596:
421:
268:
108:
230:
respectively. The first flurry of activity came from the Hampshire group and began in October 1721 when 16 poachers assembled in
520:. Leon Radzinowicz. A History of English Criminal Law and Its Administration from 1750. The Macmillan Company. New York. 1948.
1027:
Radzinowicz, L. (1945). "The Waltham Black Act: A study of the legislative attitude towards crime in the eighteenth century".
307:
251:
More raids followed, highlighting a "fairly direct class hatred", culminating in the raid of a shipment of wine ordered for
311:
1150:
295:
161:
51:
1189:(1977 with a new postscript, Harmondsworth: Penguin ed.). London: Breviary Stuff Publications (published 2013).
503:
Clive Emsley. Crime and Society in England: 1750-1900. Fourth Edition. Taylor & Francis. 2010. Routledge. 2013.
1141:
252:
334:
996:
370:
291:
1068:
991:
Broad, John (1988). "Whigs and deer-stealers in other guises: A return to the origins of the Black Act".
1277:
1029:
390:
346:
59:
350:
256:
235:
452:
The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 7 & 8 George IV. 1827. pp 152,
299:
1227:
1215:
Joseph Chitty. A Treatise on the Game Laws and on Fisheries. First Edition. 1812. Volume 1. Pages
1282:
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188:
157:
88:
31:
586:
547:
517:
516:
Turner and Armitage. Cases on Criminal Law. Third Edition. Cambridge University Press. 1964.
164:. It was passed in 1723 in response to a series of raids against landowners by two groups of
1154:
1139:
Cruickshanks, Eveline; Erskine-Hill, Howard (1985). "The Waltham Black Act and Jacobitism".
1077:
1038:
1000:
568:
534:
408:
215:
176:
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or "any other person or persons". Anyone in one of the above categories found in a forest,
490:
Cornish et al. The Oxford History of the Laws of England. Oxford University Press. 2003.
1226:
Welsby and Beavan (eds). Chitty's Collection of Statutes. London. 1851. Volume 2. Pages
1204:
1182:
465:
Lowe v Inhabitants of the Hundred of Broxtowe (1832) 3 Barnewall & Adolphus 550 at
417:
388:
The Act has been described as "severe and sanguinary", and L. Radzinowicz noted in the
382:
283:
264:
895:
Eveline Cruickshanks and Howard Erskine-Hill, "The Waltham Black Act and Jacobitism",
191:, which imposed restrictions on exterior decoration, was also known as the Black Act.
1287:
1246:
1174:
1097:
1058:
244:
338:
572:
546:
Cornish et al. Law and Society in England 1750-1950. Second Edition. Hart. 2019.
521:
491:
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413:
181:
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were punished if they failed to find, prosecute and convict alleged criminals.
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1042:
879:
279:
272:
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1004:
374:
223:
1209:
Albion's fatal tree: Crime and society in eighteenth century England
342:
303:
219:
165:
125:
75:
17:
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to Introduction; Chitty's Statutes of Practical Utility, 6th Ed, 1911,
319:
passing of the Black Act. Goring wrote to the Pretender on 6 May 1723:
260:
239:
231:
30:
This article is about the Black Act 1723. For the Black Act 1774, see
103:
559:
As to the year of an Act, see Johnson, Privatised Law Reform, 2018,
1158:
198:
306:
testified that Caryll held meetings at his inn with the former
1066:
Rogers, Pat (1974). "The Waltham blacks and the Black Act".
644:
642:
640:
627:
625:
623:
962:
to 3. These sections are subject to a proviso in section 4.
588:
Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714-1837: An Encyclopedia
713:
711:
610:
608:
373:, newspapers reported that the Blacks had reappeared in
740:
738:
585:
A. J. Graham Cummings and Jack Fruchtman, ed. (1997).
298:'s health in the home of the latter's former nurse in
1219:to 522. Second Edition. Samuel Brooke. 1826. Pages
663:
Inspections and Reports on Dwellings: Assessing Age
294:was arrested by the government for drinking to the
115:
102:
97:
87:
82:
69:
58:
278:At the time, it was thought that the Blacks were
925:, "Letter VII To Thomas Pennant, Esquire", 1789.
886:(Cambridge University Press, 1993), pp. 116–117.
377:, where they had stolen deer and robbed parks.
321:
1187:Whigs and hunters: The origin of the Black Act
255:. That proved to be the final straw, with Sir
8:
1021:Jacobitism and the English People, 1688–1788
884:Jacobitism and the English People, 1688–1788
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934:
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810:
798:
786:
774:
648:
631:
259:, a "notorious hanging judge", sent to the
175:The Act originated in the aftermath of the
41:
1263:Repealed Great Britain Acts of Parliament
1273:Capital punishment in the United Kingdom
314:, who fled to France after the Jacobite
1117:Temple University Beasley School of Law
974:(1802) Peake's Additional Cases 206 at
445:
846:
834:
717:
702:
690:
614:
208:Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals
1253:Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1723
744:
729:
7:
1105:Vann, Richard T. (1977). "Reviews".
867:
591:. Taylor & Francis. p. 58.
1023:(Cambridge University Press, 1993).
678:Architectural Design and Regulation
665:. Taylor & Francis. p. 83.
575:, title "Act of Parliament", p 28.
565:Parliament, Inventions and Patents
25:
1108:American Journal of Legal History
972:Adderly v Hundred of Offlow North
422:Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827
109:Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827
45:
1268:Hunting and shooting in England
923:The Natural History of Selborne
128:. c. 22, commonly known as the
1:
1237:, 276, 278, 366, 367 and 485.
899:24 no. 3 (1985), pp. 358–365.
1151:University of Chicago Press
162:Parliament of Great Britain
136:, and sometimes called the
52:Parliament of Great Britain
1304:
1211:. London: Allen Lane.
1142:Journal of British Studies
912:(Blackwell, 1992), p. 186.
897:Journal of British Studies
371:Jacobite rising of 1745–46
335:accessories after the fact
253:Frederick, Prince of Wales
210:1735 ed. Arthur L. Hayward
39:United Kingdom legislation
29:
1082:10.1017/S0018246X00005252
1043:10.1017/S0008197300122639
44:
1258:Legal history of England
680:. John Wiley & Sons.
234:to raid the park of the
997:Oxford University Press
958:4 Geo 4 c 54, sections
401:Report on Criminal Laws
1069:The Historical Journal
661:Santo, Philip (2013).
326:
211:
206:The Waltham Blacks in
146:Waltham Black Act 1722
1030:Cambridge Law Journal
1005:10.1093/past/119.1.56
676:Street, Emma (2011).
391:Cambridge Law Journal
205:
154:Criminal Law Act 1723
150:Criminal Law Act 1722
351:penal transportation
236:Bishop of Winchester
1019:Paul Kleber Monod,
300:Portsea, Portsmouth
222:that were based in
214:Following the 1720
27:British legislation
993:Past & Present
302:. An innkeeper of
261:Winchester Assizes
212:
1196:978-0-9570005-2-0
880:Paul Kleber Monod
203:
189:Building Act 1774
184:came into force.
134:Waltham Black Act
122:
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98:Other legislation
32:Building Act 1774
16:(Redirected from
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823:Radzinowicz 1945
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813:, p. 60-67.
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799:Radzinowicz 1945
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117:Status: Repealed
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1076:(3): 465–486.
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870:, p. 180.
860:
858:Monod, p. 118.
851:
849:, p. 481.
839:
837:, p. 472.
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767:
765:Monod, p. 117.
758:
756:Monod, p. 116.
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722:
720:, p. 471.
707:
705:, p. 470.
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316:Atterbury Plot
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228:Windsor Forest
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908:G. R. Elton,
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776:
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1037:(1): 56–81.
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486:
473:
461:
448:
404:
400:
389:
387:
379:
368:
360:
332:
322:
312:Henry Goring
289:
277:
257:Francis Page
250:
213:
207:
186:
174:
170:
153:
149:
145:
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137:
133:
129:
123:
89:Commencement
36:
1153:: 358–365.
910:The English
847:Rogers 1974
835:Rogers 1974
718:Rogers 1974
703:Rogers 1974
691:Rogers 1974
615:Rogers 1974
563:; Johnson,
524:. Page 799.
434:Bloody Code
414:Robert Peel
182:Robert Peel
104:Repealed by
93:27 May 1723
1247:Categories
745:Broad 1988
730:Broad 1988
440:References
347:Royal Park
282:, and Sir
195:Background
60:Long title
1283:Deception
1175:145634258
1167:0021-9371
1125:0002-9319
1098:159741413
1090:0018-246X
1059:144547451
1051:0008-1973
1013:1477-464X
999:: 56–72.
868:Vann 1977
492:Volume 13
456:& 165
375:Hampshire
357:Aftermath
280:Jacobites
240:pilloried
224:Hampshire
156:, was an
152:, or the
132:, or the
130:Black Act
18:Black Act
1185:(1975).
567:, 2018,
548:Page xli
522:Volume 4
505:Page 325
479:Page 286
428:See also
304:Horndean
273:formally
220:poachers
166:poachers
126:9 Geo. 1
124:The Act
76:9 Geo. 1
71:Citation
1230:to 564.
1223:to 521.
995:(119).
535:Page ix
364:Reading
310:MP Sir
245:Waltham
232:Farnham
160:of the
78:. c. 22
65:Justice
1193:
1173:
1165:
1123:
1096:
1088:
1057:
1049:
1011:
595:
569:note 1
416:, the
407:, Sir
405:Report
148:, the
144:, the
140:, the
1171:S2CID
1149:(3).
1115:(2).
1094:S2CID
1055:S2CID
573:vol 1
339:chase
111:, s 1
83:Dates
1288:Face
1191:ISBN
1163:ISSN
1121:ISSN
1086:ISSN
1047:ISSN
1009:ISSN
593:ISBN
561:p 31
518:p 58
343:down
308:Tory
226:and
187:The
1235:275
1228:561
1221:513
1217:514
1155:doi
1078:doi
1039:doi
1001:doi
976:208
467:560
454:156
345:or
329:Act
158:Act
1249::
1169:.
1161:.
1147:24
1145:.
1119:.
1113:21
1111:.
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1045:.
1033:.
1007:.
882:,
737:^
710:^
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622:^
607:^
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341:,
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1177:.
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1100:.
1080::
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1041::
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1003::
960:1
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550:.
537:.
507:.
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243:"
34:.
20:)
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