Dec 9th, 2014: Witley Park
In the English village of Witley, Surrey, lies the remains of Witley Park. In 1890 Whitaker Wright combined the Lea Park and South Park, to create the 1400 acre playground. Of course it had the mansions and stables and all the bells and whistles of the wealthy in the Victorian age.
http://cellar.org/2014/whitley02.jpg The crown of the extravagant playground was down the stairs, and out through a tunnel, to the ballroom with a glass windowed dome... at the bottom of one of the four man made lakes. http://cellar.org/2014/whitley01.jpg How did Wright acquire that much wealth? The old fashioned way, he stole it. You can read the whole story at the Mail Online, keeping in mind the Mail is kind of a sensationalist paper. But I want to quote a few lines... Quote:
The court said guilty so he swallowed a cyanide capsule, because he'd been sentenced to... ya ready?... "seven years’ penal servitude". Now a hundred years later we've come full circle, where the rich and powerful can rape and pillage with virtual impunity. :mad: |
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From my first link...
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Guess they weren't lying.
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There's also the question of honour and pride - a much greater part of upper class mindsets at that time. It was quite common (iirc from my reading on the history of suicide) for men of his class if found guilty, or if likely to be found guilty of a crime to kill themselves out of shame. |
Oh, hard labor, like the gold, silver, and coal miners, he reaped the benefit of, did every day. Like everyone below his station in society did every day.
OK, pride I'll buy. Honor? Considering how much he stole and the number of people he hurt, I don't think he'd recognize honor if it wore a clown suit with a two foot name tag. :headshake |
The point is to be seen to be dishonourable would have been a source of shame. And to be caught in blatant criminal activity, for a man of his class would have been major news. Bear in mind at this point people are thinking in terms of a 'criminal class' and criminality being a feature of the 'lower orders'.
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Not suggesting anything in the way of sympathy for this bastard - just pointing out that penal servitude was not just imprisonment. Every aspect of it, including the labour was designed to be punishing. |
Makin' little 'uns outta big 'uns.
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But my point was Quote:
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Nah. Britain (or more accurately England and Wales - Scotland has always maintained a separate legal system) had moved pretty far from the Bloody Code by this time. Mid to late 18th century was probably the height of that - many property crimes were added to the list of capital offences during that time, mainly through the removal of 'benefit of the clergy' - there were around 50 offences that could carry the death penalty in the 1680s - that went up by more than one offence per year. By 1820 it was somewhere between 200 and 220 offences punishable by death.
There's a lot of evidence to suggest that it actually played out differently in the courts though, with juries far more likely either to find a defendant not guilty, or convict them on a lesser charge (theft rather than burglary, for instance) I love 18th and 19th-century Britain. It's a mass of contradictions and contested cultures. At a time when it was famed for its brutality, particularly where justice was concerned it was also a major player in the rise of 'humane' and benefit societies. Though I'm way over simplifying and slamming several different periods together there :P Even by the late 18th century, there was a lot of discourse about more humane approaches. Transportation, for all its horror was primarily seen as a more humane punishment than the rope. Later on, penal servitude was the more humane replacement for transportation. I think transportation was abolished entirely in the 1860s, but not 100% certain and can't be arsed wikiing. Certainly long gone by the time this chap was going to be tried, in the early 20th century. . Sorry - I'll shut up now. |
Oh no, don't shut up, you're full of all kinds of interesting (and accurate) information. Although you're a bleeding heart liberal, I feel you can usually be trusted to sort out facts from your own opinion/feelings.
Besides, the more time you spend here gives Carrot more time to have naughty fun. :lol2: |
transportation is ... a ... punishment? what the I don't even...
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Yes, sending the perp to the colonies where they were indentured for at least seven years to pay for their room and board. If I'm not mistaken they had to pay for their passage too.
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Uphill both ways
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The servitude for room and board sounds harsh and unfair - but, you have see that in the context of the time. Many ordinary working people were bound by contracts of service, which put them under the Master and Servants acts. Usually that contracte dthem for a specified time, much as apprentices were apprenticed for seven years. During that ocntract hey were in servitude, with both parties to the contract bound by certain conditions. But you could go to prison, or face corporal punishment by the state for walking out on your employer. Fair notice coyld be given in some employment, but not all - and the system was such that, for many the right to end the contract effectively lay with the employer. Working primarily for room, board and necessaries was the norm for huge swathes of working people during the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly during the early part of peoples' working lives. For soldiers it had always been the norm - subsistence pay and basic needs more or less taken care of. Many of the people sent out as transported felons did as well as their compatriots back home. Many were able to save money during their period of indenture. What made transportation the horror it was - was that whilst the state would pay the outward journey, it did not pay for the return, and for some return was denied even after they served their time. It was an absolute severence from family and friends. Also the journey was notoriously bad - particularly in the eighteenth ceentury. Conditions for convicts on ships were bad, and many died of disease. The fear of not surviving the passage was a big thing for those who faced transportation. |
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