Crime in the first half of the 19th century was a very grave problem. The Watch, though called the Police, consisted of parish constables under the occasional direction of a magistrate. There was no police force in the modern sense of the word until the 1830s, and crime most went unpunished. The authorities resorted to severer punishments in the hope of deterring the criminal, until there were over 200 crimes which were punishable by death, this included for the year 3524 people were hung in England & Wales, of which 1353 were for Murder. Poverty was widespread and petty-criminals were liable to be transported for life, or publicly whipped.
