 |
| Fig. 1. Riots in the city during the Victorian period. |
The advancements during
the time of Queen Victoria were not only seen in the scientific and industrial
branches, but also in the evolution of the newspaper industry. At the beginning
of the century, due to the war with France, the Government imposed a high
taxation policy that affected mostly upon the production and sale of
newspapers. However,
from the 1830 all those taxes were halved and gradually abolished. “The duty on
advertising was removed in 1853, and this was followed two years later by the
exemption of newspapers from stamp duty. Finally, production was made cheaper
still by the abolition of paper tax in 1861” (Gray 97)
Nevertheless, the abolition of
duties was not the only factor in the expansion of the press. Public education
started to spread to towns and more and more people learnt to read, so the
percentage of illiteracy reduced and increased the number of readers. The
improvements in the telegraph and the printers aided the rapid spread of
information. In addition, the circulation of books and libraries increased and new
weekly and monthly literary magazines appeared. All those factors and the
crimes incensement led to the appearance of the sensational newspapers and
novels during that time.
 |
| Fig. 2. Lloyd´s Weekly Newspaper |
Sensationalism consists of presenting information using exciting or shocking stories to provoke interest
to the public or in the case of newspapers, to the readers. In that period,
newspapers used this technique in the reporting of crimes and society scandals. It
became more important the way the news were presented rather than the story
itself. “For example, Lloyd’s Weekly
Newspaper, which had a circulation of 900.000 by 1890, devoted 50% of its
content to crime in 1866, and the Daily
Telegraph, likewise owed much of its early popularity to its reporting of
criminals activities, murders and trials”. (Gray 101)
Press played a very
important role in criminal justice, to the extent that the hanging or reprieving
of a condemned murder depended on them strongly. According to Thomas Boyle, “reporting
of crime was not new; neither was negative criticism of the cultural effects of
such publication. What was new […], however, were those elements of quantity of
coverage and distribution which naturally accompanied the rising phenomenon of
the popular press.” (53)
The press stories of real
events were often extravagant. Press could change a simple fact of a minor
crime into a very interesting story in order to catch the reader’s attention.
Sometimes, it was difficult to discern between reality and fiction.
- POISONING:
 |
| Fig. 3. Jar of arsenic, the most known poison of that time. |
Poisoning was one of the
most common types of crime in the Victorian period because of the easy access
to poison in chemists’ shops. Additionally, doctors did not have a very develop
system to do autopsies, it was hard for them to tell if people had been
poisoned or died from natural causes, for this reason it was more secure for
murderers to use poison to kill someone instead of any other weapon.
Rebecca Smith went to the
gallows after it had been discovered that she had poisoned seven of her children.
Conviction to women who killed their babies was not common in that period.
Moreover, as we have said, press played such an important role in society,
that in more than one case, thanks to its influence they could avoid people being convicted. For instance, in the case of Emma Wade, “an unmarried
domestic servant in Stamford who killed her infant, the newspaper “Lincolnshire Chronicle urged its readers
to add their signatures to the mass petition for commutation of the death
sentence” (Wiener 112)
 |
| Fig. 4. Add of the "recommended" use of poison. |
The same could have
happened to Rebecca Smith if she would have not confessed the crime. At first,
she was only convicted for having poisoned her one-month-old baby called
Richard. The jury considered her guilty but recommended mercy because of her
poor health. However, she ended up going to the gallows due to her unexpected
confession.
She confessed to having killed seven of her children to avoid them dying of starvation. She claimed she
had been physically and sexually abused by her husband since the marriage, so
that reason could have influenced in her behaviour too.
This news was published
in the Lloyds Weekly Newspaper in September
2, 1849. The sensational newspaper used that interesting crime to catch the
reader’s attention and they wrote it as if it was a tale. The newspaper described
all the process and Rebecca’s behaviour until the moment of her death. The aim
of the sensational newspapers was to raise the interest of the readers. Not
only the news was relevant, but also the draws published in the newspapers were
really shocking too.
 |
| Fig. 5. Draw of the execution of Rebecca Smith. |
- GAROTTERS:
“Garotting” was a term
invented by the press to refer to a new type of crime. Specifically, it was a new
type of violent robbery in which two or three men attacked a victim to steal
them. The technique used consisted in one of the robbers grabbing the victim around
the neck while the others stole all the things in pockets or any other part of
the body. This type of crime interested a lot to the newspapers and they were
full of alarming stories.
In the summer of 1862, a
member of parliament called Hugh Pilkington was attacked by two “garotters”
after leaving the House of Commons. One of the two robbers choked him while the
other stole his watch and then, both of them ran off.
 |
| Fig. 6. Case of garrotting. Example of how the garroters acted. |
After this incident, the
press decided to widespread the panic about crime. People became so much
frightened that many of them refused to leave their homes when it was dark. The
Metropolitan Police decided to increase the number of security on the streets
and some people formed groups called “the anti-garottings” to hunt them.
 |
| Fig. 7. Example of the anti-garotting collar. |
Many newspapers such as The Spectator or The Observer reported news about “garotting”. For instance, The Spectator said: “Highway robbery is
becoming an institution in London and roads like the Bayswater road are as
unsafe as Naples.” (Gray 111). The panic was devastating the cities and consequently,
many innocent people were arrested for being suspicious thieves.
The big impact that caused
the incident of Hugh Pilkington to the press also provoked, after some time, changes
in the criminal justice system. In 1863, a “Garotters Act” was passed which
punished and imprisoned people for that kind of crime.
Fig. 9. An example taken from the Punch, a cartoon magazine of the Victorian time.
THE SONG OF THE
ANTI-GAROTTER
All around my neck, I wear a
spiked steel collar,
A revolver and a bowie-knife I carry up my sleeves, And if any one should ask of me the reason why I wear them, I'll tell him 'tis to guard myself from these garotting theives.
Last night in walking home a
skulking vagabond addressed me,
Says he, "Pray what's o'clock?" and, not intending any pun, Full in his ugly face I let out my left, and floored him, Observing as I did so, "My dear friend, it's just struck one!"
So, ruffians all, take
warning now, and keep respectful distance,
Or a bullet, or a bowie-knife clean through your ribs I'll send: Well armed, we'll straightaway shoot or stab the rascal who attacks us, If SIR GEORGE GREY won't protect us, why, ourselves we must defend.
Punch, December 20, 1862
|
In conclusion, the
Victorian press represented a very important source of information for the
population in Great Britain during the nineteenth century. People relied
completely on the information given and that was probably the main problem of
the manipulation of the news. It was a period in which the news turned to be a
combination of fact and fiction to catch the reader’s attention and interest. A
minor crime was narrated as if it was one of the major crimes ever and so the
press was the creator of a panic society. In fact, many of the stories
described in the newspapers are nowadays the “key ingredients for the modern
soap opera,” for this reason we should change the consideration of crimes at
that time and we should start calling them: sensational and novelistic crimes
in the Victorian era.
If you want to know more about the
criminal society in the Victorian times, you can also watch this video:
WORKS CITED (RESEARCH):
Boyle, Thomas. Black Swine in the Sewers of Hampstead:
beneath the surface of Victorian sensationalism. United States. Penguin Group,
1989. Print.
Gray, Drew D. London’s shadows: the dark site of the Victorian City. Bloomsbury
Publishing, 2010. Web. Available in: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/roehampton/reader.action?docID=10422425&ppg=104
Wiener, Martin J. Convicted murderers and the Victorian Press:
Condemnation vs Sympathy, Rice University,2007.Web. Available in: http://www.pbs.plymouth.ac.uk/solon/journal/issue%201.2/Weiner%20issue%201.2.pdf
King, Ed.
"British Newspapers 1800-1860." 19th Century British Newspapers. Detroit: Gale Cengage Learning, 2007. Web. Available in: http://find.galegroup.com/bncn/topicguide/bncn_05.htm
WORKDS CITED (IMAGES):
FIG. 1: Emsley, Clive. Crime and the Victorians. BBC. History. Web. Digital Image. [Accessed on 25 November, 2015]:
FIG. 2: Lloyd’s weekly newspapers. Digital Image. Google Images. [Accessed on 25 November, 2015]
FIG. 3: Poisoning in the Victorian Era. Google Image. Digital Image. [Accessed on 25 November, 2015] https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=poisoning&rlz=1C1EODB_enES509ES509&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwivnvXc4rXJAhWF6xQKHVmzD_gQ_AUIBygB&biw=1366&bih=681#tbm=isch&q=poisoning+in+the+victorian+period&imgrc=nIHj1wsuKVtcIM%3A
FIG. 4: Add of a rat poisoned. Google Images. Digital Image. [Accessed on 25 November, 2015]
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=poisoning&rlz=1C1EODB_enES509ES509&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwivnvXc4rXJAhWF6xQKHVmzD_gQ_AUIBygB&biw=1366&bih=681#tbm=isch&q=adds+of+rat+poisoning+in+the+victorian+era&imgrc=ovRB2tFwctdBiM%3A
FIG. 5: The execution of Rebecca Smith at Devizes, 1849. BBC. Your Paintings. Web. Digital Image.[Accessed on 25 November, 2015]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-execution-of-rebecca-smith-at-devizes-1849-64721
FIG. 6: Garotters. Google
images. Digital Image. [Accessed on 25 November, 2015]
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=poisoning&rlz=1C1EODB_enES509ES509&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwivnvXc4rXJAhWF6xQKHVmzD_gQ_AUIBygB&biw=1366&bih=681#tbm=isch&q=adds+of+rat+poisoning+in+the+victorian+era&imgrc=ovRB2tFwctdBiM%3A
FIG. 5: The execution of Rebecca Smith at Devizes, 1849. BBC. Your Paintings. Web. Digital Image.[Accessed on 25 November, 2015]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-execution-of-rebecca-smith-at-devizes-1849-64721
FIG. 7: Smallwood, Karl. The London garotting panic of the mid-19th century. Today I found out. Web. Digital Image. [Accessed on 25 November, 2015]
FIG. 8: Punishment for garotters. New Zealand Herald. Paper Past. Web. Digital Image. [Accessed on 25 November, 2015]
FIG. 9: The song of the Anti-Garotter. Web. Digital Image. [Accessed on 25 Novemeber, 2015]
Hi Nerea!
ReplyDeleteI always wondered what 'garotting' was! I think the subject of sensational journalism is very interesting especially related to the justice system; a trial could be a sort of theatre, as it is in A Tale of Two Cities. I wonder how much journalists could sway public opinion or vice versa? I imagine this sort of journalism resulted in quite a lot of mistrust for newspapers and perhaps paved the way for various fraud and scams (such as in Conan Doyle's 'The Red-Headed League'). Maybe people were ready to believe much more what they read in the papers initially and there was likely a process of disenchantment as the century advanced. Very interesting to find out what political developments (like the decrease in taxes) contributed to the origin of this kind of journalism!
Hi Anna,
DeleteI'm glad you liked it! I have always been interested in the media and how news are published. Unfortunately, this phenomenon (sensationalism) is still in use and we cannot imagine how the media modify the news depending on what they want people to know. Thank you for you comment, it is interesting to know what people think of your topic.
Hi Nerea!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about the relations between crime and the press in the Victorian era. It was very interesting to see this side of how industrialism and urbanism coincided and how journalists - and maybe the criminals! - tried to benefit from and exploit it. It is both frightening and logical that the public would place so much trust in the newspapers and what they said - after all, they were basically the only source available. I really like your comment on soap operas using Victorian newspapers as inspiration!
Thank you for you comment Amelie. Yes, the way they wrote the news was more like a crime story rather than an informative text. They probably used the same techniques as the novelists to emphasize the interest of the readers and create more panic in the society of the time, and that was a bussiness for them: the more terror, the more newspapers people bought to be up to date.
Delete