So what do you know about crime and
punishment?
Introductory quiz to crime and punishment, c.1830-1965
1. Samuel Jackson’ AKA Slippery Sam’ was one of Britain’s most infamous smugglers. He hid his stash
in tunnels under his house in Canterbury. He earned his name because when arrested and
imprisoned in Maidstone Gaol he covered himself in grease and slipped through the iron bars to
escape. TRUE
2. Between 1787 and 1868 when it was abolished, 16,000 convicted criminals were transported to
Australia FALSE 160,000
3. The oldest convict was 82 and the youngest was a nine-year-old child who had stolen some
clothes and a gun TRUE
4. Before the introduction of prison reform in the nineteenth century, no one could leave prison,
even if found guilty until they had paid a ‘jailer’s fee’. Innocent people were often kept in prison of
ryears because they couldn’t afford the fee to be let out. TRUE
5. A survey in the early 1800s showed that of the 400,000 people in prison across the country, 60%
were there because they owed money. FALSE – only 4000 in prison at this time
6. The prison reformer, Elizabeth Fry, encouraged prisoners to knit socks in order to keep them
gainfully occupied. TRUE
7. The 1864 Penal Servitude Act allowed prison wardens to use electric shocks on prisoners who
were not working hard enough. TRUE
8. It wasn’t until 1918 that the government took control of all prisoners. FALSE – 1878
9. There were many nicknames for the first police officers. These included, ‘Blue Lobsters’, ‘Peel’s
bloody gang’ and ‘Blue Devils’. FALSE – ‘Raw lobsters’, which are in fact blue!
10. Early police officers had to work seven days a week, were expected to walk a 20 mile beat and
eat on the job. They were paid the princely sum of 5p a week. Not much then, but better than most
paid work at the time. FALSE – 5p a day
11. By 1900 there were 4,800 policemen in the country. FALSE – 48,000
12. The Rebecca Riots by agricultural workers against unfair taxes were orchestrated by a group
Welsh farmers dressed in women’s clothes in order to avoid being arrested by the authorities. TRUE
13. In 1834 6 men were arrested and transported to Australia for seven years for swearing an oath
on the Bible. TRUE – although their sentence was overturned by Parliament 2 years later.
14. According to the British Crime Survey, in 1996 there were 681 cases of murder or manslaughter
in this country, twice the number committed at the turn of the century. TRUE – 312 cases in 1900
15. The United Kingdom currently has the largest prison population proportionate to its size of any
country in the world. FALSE – USA, 730 prisoners per 100,000 and the UK, 156