This dissertation examines crime and its relation to economic distress in seventeenth-century Lancashire. It uses evidence drawn from both Lancashire quarter sessions and assize courts. Mainly, however, it concentrates on the quarter sessions evidence. It studies crime at the county, as opposed to the local community, level; and makes use of a variety of types of court records. It does not rely on indictment evidence alone, but uses recognizances as the basis of time series, as well as other classifications of records. Using grain prices as a measure of changes in economic hardship, it examines short term change in patterns of recognizances in the county from 1627 to 1637, and also variations between the different areas in the county. Those different areas are the south-east of the county, which contained the emerging textile districts; the south-west of the county, which until the early seventeenth century had been the wealthiest part of Lancashire; and Lancashire north of the Ribble. It examines the relationship between crime and distress in the second half of the century using different types of evidence. Requests for assistance from the bench at quarter sessions are reconstructed as time series data, as are 'informations,' (documents describing of fences). Patterns of these records are compared with grain prices, and with the cost of living index. As well as examining for the influence of changes in economic conditions upon the court records, the dissertation also examines for the influence of variations in the way in which the quarter sessions system of justice was used. It examines the use of their discretion on the part of Justices of the Peace. It also examines other aspects of the nature of crime in Lancashire. Looking at property offences, interpersonal violence, and victimless of fences such as coining and the uttering of seditious words, it examines attitudes towards crime and also how and why people committed property of fences, and how offenders were caught; and why certain types of interpersonal violence were regarded more seriously than others. The investigation has found that crime and economic hardship in Lancashire were intimately related throughout the seventeenth century. Lancashire people were sensitive to the impact of changes in living conditions, and to the changing price of various grains. However, the indications are that the patterns of records reflect, for the most part, prosecutorial initiatives rather than changes in behaviour - although behavioural change can be identified as a discrete phenomenon. It has also been found that the establishment of a permanent system or poor relief impacted upon recorded crime. In regard to other aspects of the nature of crime, it has found that the records of the prosecution of certain types of offences are useful in revealing to us the social values which underpinned the use of the criminal justice system; values related to ideas about property, status hierarchy and legally constituted authority.

Between 1847 and 1851, a series of criminal trials took place in Essex, England, involving a number of women accused of fatally poisoning their husbands and children and even complete strangers. This thesis analyzes the Essex cases and their representation in the Victorian press. It focuses quite intensively on the legal proceedings involved in the Essex cases but also examines issues such as the emergence of toxicology, the availability of arsenic and the campaign against burial societies, issues which informed both the Victorian press’s treatment of the Essex cases and public responses to the story. This thesis challenges and critiques the dominant narrative of the Essex poisonings by revealing the gap between what the press claimed and the evidence actually offered in court and draws from the voluminous media coverage these cases generated to explain how and why this particular episode occurred at this particular historical moment. / Graduate

Orientador: Lélio Luiz de Oliveira / Banca: Antonio Theodoro Grilo / Banca: Pedro Geraldo Tosi / Resumo: O presente estudo tem como objetivo, analisar os tipos e características dos conflitos - violentos ou não - vivenciados pela população da Vila de São Sebastião do Ribeirão Preto (área que abrange atualmente os municípios de Ribeirão Preto, Sertãozinho e Cravinhos), dentro do contexto histórico que corresponde ao fim da escravidão, e a transição de práticas econômicas que iam do abastecimento local e regional e primeiros impactos da cafeicultura e da ferrovia. O período corresponde a 1874, quando a vila tornou-se política e juridicamente autônoma em relação à vila de São Simão, e 1888, último ano de vigência do sistema escravista no Brasil. A pesquisa teve como base documental, os censos populacionais de 1872 e 1886 (realizados em 1874 e 1887, respectivamente, na província de São Paulo) e processos judiciais localizados no Arquivo Público de Ribeirão Preto: processos-crime de livres e cativos, de liberdade de escravos e de tutela de filhos de escravas. Concluiu-se que as ações judiciais foram requeridas por indivíduos originários dos vários segmentos sociais, que o custo da tramitação das ações restringia a formalização dos crimes, que os processos geralmente ficavam inconclusos, e que a justiça catalogou uma gama variada de crimes / Abstract: This study aims to analyze the types and characteristics of the conflicts - violents or non - experienced by the population of the town of São Sebastião do Ribeirão Preto (currently the area that covers the municipalities of Ribeirão Preto, Sertãozinho and Cravinhos), within the historical context that corresponds to the end of slavery, and the transition of economics practices of local and regional supply and early impacts of the coffee production and railroad. The period corresponds to 1874, when the town became politically and legally autonomous in relation to the town of São Simão and 1888, last year of the slavery system in Brazil. The search was based on documentary census population of 1872 and 1886 (completed in 1874 and 1887, respectively, in the province of Sao Paulo) and judicial processes located in public archive of Ribeirão Preto: criminal processes of free and captive population, freedom of slaves processes and guardianship of children of slaves. It was concluded that the lawsuits were required by individuals from various social segments, that the cost of functioning of actions restricted the formalization of crimes which processes generally were inconclusive, and that justice catalogued a variety of crimes / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-03-19Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:54:42Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 paula_fn_me_fran.pdf: 787314 bytes, checksum: ea42821aba9d71f6fdd16f0fb0f7dfac (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente estudo tem como objetivo, analisar os tipos e características dos conflitos – violentos ou não - vivenciados pela população da Vila de São Sebastião do Ribeirão Preto (área que abrange atualmente os municípios de Ribeirão Preto, Sertãozinho e Cravinhos), dentro do contexto histórico que corresponde ao fim da escravidão, e a transição de práticas econômicas que iam do abastecimento local e regional e primeiros impactos da cafeicultura e da ferrovia. O período corresponde a 1874, quando a vila tornou-se política e juridicamente autônoma em relação à vila de São Simão, e 1888, último ano de vigência do sistema escravista no Brasil. A pesquisa teve como base documental, os censos populacionais de 1872 e 1886 (realizados em 1874 e 1887, respectivamente, na província de São Paulo) e processos judiciais localizados no Arquivo Público de Ribeirão Preto: processos-crime de livres e cativos, de liberdade de escravos e de tutela de filhos de escravas. Concluiu-se que as ações judiciais foram requeridas por indivíduos originários dos vários segmentos sociais, que o custo da tramitação das ações restringia a formalização dos crimes, que os processos geralmente ficavam inconclusos, e que a justiça catalogou uma gama variada de crimes / This study aims to analyze the types and characteristics of the conflicts – violents or non - experienced by the population of the town of São Sebastião do Ribeirão Preto (currently the area that covers the municipalities of Ribeirão Preto, Sertãozinho and Cravinhos), within the historical context that corresponds to the end of slavery, and the transition of economics practices of local and regional supply and early impacts of the coffee production and railroad. The period corresponds to 1874, when the town became politically and legally autonomous in relation to the town of São Simão and 1888, last year of the slavery system in Brazil. The search was based on documentary census population of 1872 and 1886 (completed in 1874 and 1887, respectively, in the province of Sao Paulo) and judicial processes located in public archive of Ribeirão Preto: criminal processes of free and captive population, freedom of slaves processes and guardianship of children of slaves. It was concluded that the lawsuits were required by individuals from various social segments, that the cost of functioning of actions restricted the formalization of crimes which processes generally were inconclusive, and that justice catalogued a variety of crimes