18th-century English society was violent at all levels, from duelling aristocrats to rioting crowds. Punishment was often even more violent than crime. Petty theft could be punished by transportation or hanging. On the other hand, smugglers shot the excise-men sent to catch them and footpads and highwaymen were routinely armed.

There were no organised police forces; the militia was used for large-scale disturbances, but local, often elderly, watchmen struggled in the towns. The growth of crime in London led magistrates like the novelist Henry Fielding and his brother to set up the Bow Street Runners in AD 1749; Patrick Colquhoun established the Thames Police in 1798. But many citizens formed vigilante groups to defend themselves and gentleman travellers carried firearms. Horace Walpole said, ‘One is forced to travel, even at noon, as if one was going to battle.’

This situation continued in the early 19th century. Stage coaches continued to travel with armed guards and travellers in the wilder fringes of London like Epping Forest and Hounslow Heath were still liable to be held up. The reign of Victoria saw improvements to the criminal justice system and the creation of the Metropolitan police in 1829, followed by forces in the rest of the country in the 1850s.