The Nature and Incidence of Criminal Activity In Oxfordshire Quarter Session Records,

1686 - 1696

 INTRODUCTION

• "Crime and wrong-doing are of interest to the historian because they may throw light upon the opportunities or temptations encountered by humanity in the past, and the difference between the formal attitude of these things and that which prevails today".

In that passage David Ogg highlights a major fascination that crime has for the historian but crime and wrongdoing are fascinating to everyone because they appear to be a necessary part of social living. Societal man devises rules and codes of conduct and man seems destined to act against those rules either individually or collectively. In breaking the rules and codes man tells us more than the opportunities and temptations; he tells us about the very nature of society. For Ogg the period at the end of the Stuart era was an unusually turbulent stage in her history;"an adolescence even more stormy than the boyhood of Tudor times...."(1) But such an observation was based upon the problems faced by the ruling classes in the face of political and religious differences, was this really the situation at the base of the pyramid, did the country really find itself as turbulent in the localities. It might be that a comprehensive study of the way in which people broke the rules and what they considered to be required norms of conduct can help us to understand the truth of this period. With this in mind this essay will attempt to add a small portion to the total information about crimes in the late seventeenth century.

Exactly what constitutes a crime has exercised the minds of criminologists and sociologists for years but the simplest definition seems to be that suggested by William Bonger when he said that,

• "A crime is an act committed within a group of persons that form a social unit, and whose author is punished by the group (or a part of it) as such, or by organs designated for this purpose it must also be against the group in society who have the power in order for it to become a crime". ⁽²⁾

If such a definition is accepted then in 17th Century England it is clear that those acts which came before the Justices of the Peace must have been considered crimes while those punished by them must have been criminals. The Quarter Sessions provided the formal organisation for deciding cases considered criminal and their records provide the most basic material for a study of crime at a local level. With this in mind it is the record of the county records for Oxfordshire at what must be considered the most turbulent period of the reigns of James II and William III that I propose to examine. The decade from 1687 until 1696, ten years during which there was a change of King, the beginnings of a new constitution, war and economic crises. Before looking at what the evidence can tell us about criminal activity in the period we have, however, to consider the evidence itself. It will be the purpose of the first chapter of this essay to consider the shortcomings of the surviving records as well as any strengths. How far can we trust the material when it comes to statistics?

Can we be certain that it tells us everything or are there discrepancies that could cast doubts on our figures and general conclusions? All evidence is open to various interpretations and so is this; it may be particularly significant that no records have survived from before this date, either neither for the County nor for the city. The main consideration is, however, how much crime there was during the period. In this respect I feel that the accusations are as important as anything else in considering the social background to crime. This section will attempt to consider how many people were accused. Also it will be my hope to show whether any years were significant and if so whether one can see possible reasons. This will not completely answer the question of how much crime was committed because, as has been frequently noted in other works on this subject, it is virtually impossible to give any satisfactory answer. The very complexity of machinery of reporting, trying and punishing crimes presents problems, what does one do about unreportedor undetected crimes for example? Does one only count the persons convicted as criminals and those who the juries feel there is a partial doubt about as completely innocent? There is no solution to such questions and so, the emphasis will be on reported cases which can give a reasonable indication of what was cause for concern. It is also necessary to consider the nature of the crimes of which people are accused. Cold figures tell us nothing of the humanity factor in crime. We must, as far as is possible, concern ourselves with what happened, why it happened, and what its consequences were if that is possible. An assault can be no more than a slap across the face while it can be, and sometimes was, only short of murder because that victim survived. It will be the hope that we might be able to see from this section the truth of whether the ordinary people of thetime found this a particularly turbulent time, whether they made itso or was it only in the upper echelons of society.

This must, of necessity be a very restricted study leaving out, as it does the Assize records and research into the social backgrounds of people involved. In no way is it intended to give a definitive answer to the many questions asked. It does not even attempt to be complete for the whole of Oxfordshire society, leaving out, as it does, the City of Oxford. What it attempts is to open the way for further studies while trying to give some kind of answer. It is intended to see the rural aspects of crime during a limited period of an important chapter in English history and hopefully will go some way to fill in the gaps in our knowledge so that a truer over all picture will subsequently be possible.

I should like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the help, which has been given to me by so many people. In particular of course are the various members of the County Records Office Staff in Oxford, the Librarian of the Bodleian for the use of material there and all those people who have encouraged me and motivated me during the preparation and writing of this.

End Notes - Introduction

(1) D.Ogg, England in the reign of James II and William III; 1955, p. 99

(2) W.Bonger; Criminality and Economic Conditions; London; 1969

[index] [Introduction] [Chapter One] [Chapter Two] [Chapter Three] [Conclusion] [Append1] [Append 2] [Bilblio]