Poaching

The nobility and gentry were big landowners who reserved the fish and game in
their parks for their own hunting. To challenge their rights was regarded as an
attack on their property and the law supported them. But peasants tended to see
deer, hares, pheasants, pigeons and fish as fair game, whoever's land they were
on. The result was poaching by means of dogs, nets, guns or traps.
Gamekeepers watched out for poachers day and night, and set man traps and
spring-guns for those who eluded them. Between 1750 and 1820 poachers
convicted of using a firearm or wounding a gamekeeper were usually hanged
and after 1816 they could be transported to Australia for 14 years.

Poaching was for a mixture of need and greed. It was recognised at the time as
partly the result of poverty. Because of the 18th-century enclosure movement
many small farmers lost their land and became labourers, with no food supply of
their own. They saw poaching as a remedy to which they were entitled - it was a
'social' crime, which most people did not regard as a crime at all. But some
poachers were in it for profit, working with organised gangs and supplying food
not for themselves but for the black market.

Poaching and other rural crimes

The most common crime in rural areas was poaching.

Wealthy landowners and the aristocracy saw poaching as an attack on their

property rights

The first law against poaching was passed in 1389, and many more followed
over the centuries. The most important one was the Game Act of 1671.

Many gangs of poachers also operated - for profit, like the smugglers. And, as
with smuggling, gangs often used violence.

In 1707 a law made buying, selling or possessing game an offence, as well as

hunting or trapping it. But the fines and even prison sentences did not stop
people poaching.

Poaching and smuggling are two crimes which historians sometimes refer to as
Social Crime. This means that even though they are illegal, some people see
the crimes as socially acceptable because it provides less wealthy people with
goods that they could otherwise not afford and the crimes are the government’s
fault. Smuggling is a crime which still continues today – although the goods
smuggled into the country are different from in the past.

Key Question 1 – What were the key features of poaching?

In the countryside poaching was common. Rich landowners had large estates
where they hunted animals and birds and they employed gamekeepers to
prevent poaching. They believed poaching was theft from their property and even
made traps against poachers. The first law against poaching was in the late 14th
century, and more laws were passed with the most important one in 1671 which
made it illegal to poach animals such as hares, pigeons, fish, deer, pheasant and
ducks.

Many people believed that the law was unfair because the rich could hunt
wherever they liked but ordinary people could not even shoot a pigeon on their
own land. For the poor, animals were an important way to get food. Fines,
imprisonment and transportation did not stop poaching – some of which was
organised by large gangs based in London. Poaching grew in the mid 19th
century, one reason being the increase in Enclosure Acts which reduced the
amount of common land available.

Poaching meant illegal hunting and trapping of deer, hares, pigeons etc.
Poaching was forbidden by contradictory laws in the 14th Century. Some
poachers did it for a profit by supplying food to the Black market. It became illegal
to trade game and this resulted in the Black Market. Other people poached not to
sell but to provide food for their family.

The aristocracy saw poaching as an attack on their own right and as an invasion
of their property. The aristocracy owned the game so they thought that it was
only them that could hunt it no-one else.

Punishments for Poaching

Poaching was not dealt with as a harsh offence because there was no intrusion
into a house (Burglary) or a person's clothing (Pick Pockets) and perhaps it was
also that aristocracy poached against each other. The Punishment normally
imposed was imprisonment or a fine.

Poaching after 1750

Two reasons for poaching after 1750 were Need and Greed.

Poaching through Need

Rural poverty continued to be widespread. The 'enclosure' movement of the

18th Century deprived people of land, because of this many became labourers.
Wages were low and their diet was worse, and many turned to poaching to
survive.

Poachers were thought of as heroes, people rescued poachers from the hands
of keepers and police and intimidated people who took poachers to court.

Poaching through Greed

Another point of view was that poaching could never be justified. The police and
Estate owners believed that there was no connection between poverty and
poaching. They thought the profits from poaching were spent in the pubs rather
than on food. Many poachers made plans in the pubs and did spend their money
in the pubs.

Gangs based in London organized poaching and did most of the poaching
business in the pubs. These gags grew steadily in size between 1830 and 1870.
Representatives would make contact with actual poachers in rural areas.

Poaching became more tempting as Estate owners were building up their game
and fish stocks for angling and shooting groups who were prepared to pay well
for the popular pastime.

Dealing with Poachers

The authorities introduced a variety of man-traps and spring-guns, the purpose

of which was to kill, mutilate or break the poachers legs, this was mainly as a
deterrent to poachers.

Punishments for Poachers became worse. Poachers were sentenced to longer

terms of imprisonment. The less fortunate were, from 1816, transported to
places like New South Wales (Australia) for fourteen years. Between 1750 and
1820, more poachers than before were hanged, particularly those convicted of
using a firearm or wounding a gamekeeper.

During 1830s man-traps and spring-guns were made illegal, and a Act in 1883
allowed tenants to kill rabbits and hares on their own farms, so ending one of the
most hated parts of the old game laws. On the other hand, the law remained
heavily on poachers. Poachers could still be transported to penal colony, or
imprisoned for up to seven years. By the Poaching Prevention Act of 1862
anyone suspected of carrying poaching implements could be stopped and
searched by the police. poachers were treat more harshly than any other people
accused of other types of theft in the 19th Century, this shows that the views on
poaching changed more slowly than many other forms of theft on property since
1750.