The dangerous world of Regency London
Website design By BotEap.comThe Regency of England refers roughly to 1811 to 1820, although the term more broadly includes 1800 to 1830. When George III, stricken with illness, was no longer able to function, his eldest son, the Prince, became Regent in his place. “The Regency took its tone from the larger-than-life figure of the Prince of Wales… The age spawned a bustling underworld of scandal, criminality, gambling and personal notoriety. Embezzlement and fraud flourished then as now. The war against France caused further instability and led to the collapse of law and order.” (Low, Sutton, p. xxv)
Website design By BotEap.comWriters of crime stories and mysteries, like me, must enter the dangerous world of this time. Low says that London, England, “excelled the rest of the British Isles in crime and vice.” (Low, p. xi) There was no police force, as such, until the Victorian period, adding to this instability. The growth of the underworld had started in the 18th century (Georgian period). In London, Henry Fielding became Westminster’s salaried chief magistrate in 1749. He established the Bow Street group, whose men became known as the Bow Street Runners. Henry’s brother Sir John Fielding continued the work, and by the time of the Regency the Runners’ work had expanded considerably.
Website design By BotEap.comLondon embodied a complex world in the Regency. Crime was rife in many forms and areas. From the hangouts frequented by the wealthy, who also used the services of deminondaines, or better-class prostitutes, to the prostitutes who frequented the area of the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theaters, the area of murderers and escaped convicts- -the crime takes precedence. The dark streets encouraged thieves and pickpockets (gas lighting was installed in some streets in Pall Mall in 1807) to target the public, and well-bred females did not wander at night without the protection of males. Few from the West End traveled to the East End without good reason, and one or two fully loaded pistols.
Website design By BotEap.comThe robbers came from the East End colonies, or crime districts such as St. Giles and Whitechapel. In these crime dens, ‘lightning houses’ flourished. These were numerous pubs frequented by criminals who taught the boys to steal, pickpocketing, robbery and worse crimes. Bribery, extortion, and blackmail were rampant. While mob bosses ruled this part of town, brothel owners ruled the unfortunate young women, who found their way to them.
Website design By BotEap.comSouth of the River Thames, home to wild orgies of prostitutes and gin-drinking drunks, it was also home to the ‘Resurrection Men’, who sold corpses to surgeons and were not averse to killing to achieve it, though they did loot graves. it was his ‘forte’. The Thames itself was bent by sailors, called ‘River Men’, who looted warehouses, docks and ships.
Website design By BotEap.comAll this crime kept the Bow Street Runners on their toes, as the night watchmen were ineffective. In 1800 the River Thames Police Act was established. In 1805, a Bow Street horse patrol of sixty men rode on Hounslow Heath, a notorious center for highwaymen, who terrorized travellers. Many wanted reform, but the bills introduced were slow to take effect, so crime continued high until the Victorian period, when a police force was created. You can see what my heroes and heroines had to deal with while fighting crime.