In 18th-century London, the public flocked to Tyburn to enjoy the execution of criminals. The condemned man, his hands manacled, was dragged through the streets in a cart to the gallows, where a grandstand allowed paying customers a better view. Even educated people like the writer Samuel Johnson thought public execution was a useful deterrent: ‘If they do not draw spectators they don’t answer their purpose’.

Most crimes were not murders, but offences against property, such as burglary or highway robbery. In the first 50 years of George III’s reign (1760-1820) 63 capital offences were created for relatively minor crimes. People, including children, could be executed for picking a pocket or setting fire to a haystack. In the end, judges and juries often would not convict people because of the severe penalties. Lesser punishments, like the stocks or the pillory, involved violence, as the criminal was pelted with missiles by the crowd.

Local prisons were just small lock-ups and larger ones were private enterprises run to make money. The largest section of prisoners was debtors, who languished inside for years, unable to pay their debts. Towards the end of the century, people began to think more about the causes of crime, and prison reformers like Elizabeth Fry campaigned for better treatment for offenders.