Typical crimes of the age included pickpocketing, murder and prostitution. In 1800 you could be hanged for over 200 crimes including shoplifting, which was punishable by death until 1808. However, hanging was not the only serious punishment. From the beginning of the nineteenth century imprisonment became the dominant form of punishment. It was possible that children as young as seven could be sent to prison and there are also records of children aged twelve being hanged. Victorian prisons were frightening places: dirty, dark and overcrowded.

Transportation (a means of removing criminals from Britain by sending them to America or Australia) was another common punishment in the early 1800s although it stopped in 1867, when magistrates decided that a life in Australia was more of an opportunity than a punishment. Thieves in the early nineteenth century could be sent abroad for seven years, and at the end of Oliver Twist, we are led to assume that this is the fate in store for the Artful Dodger.

Between 1815 and 1840 the population grew by 70%; however, crime increased by 300%. It has been suggested that the rise of a ‘criminal class’ was responsible. However, poor living conditions and life prospects are also important factors to consider.