As a new consumer culture took root in eighteenth-century England and
shops proliferated, the crime of shoplifting leaped to public
prominence.
Shoplifting in Eighteenth-Century England examines the nature and impact
on society of this commercial crime at a time of rapid retail expansion
during the long eighteenth century. As a new consumer culture took root
in England and shops proliferated, the crime of shoplifting leaped to
public prominence. In 1699 shoplifting became a hanging offence. Yet
whether compelled by need or greed, shoplifters continued to operate in
substantial numbers on the shopping streets of London and provincial
towns. Regarded initially as exclusively a crime of the poor, the
eighteenth century witnessed a transformation in the public perception
and understanding of such customer theft, signalled by the shocking
arrest of Jane Austen's wealthy aunt for shoplifting in 1799.
This book shows, through systematic profiling of those who committed
this crime, that shoplifting was primarily a crime of the poor and
predominantly an opportunist one. Providing both quantitative analysis
and engaging insights into real-life stories, the book describes the
variable strategies adopted by shoplifters to raid elite and poorer
stores, the practical responses of shopkeepers to this predation and the
financial impact on their businesses. It investigates the trade lobbying
that led to the passing of the Shoplifting Act, the degree to which
retailers co-operated with the judiciary and their engagement with the
capital law reform movement of the later eighteenth century. Examining
the range of goods stolen, the book also addresses questions of whether
or not this form of theft was driven by consumer desire andsuggests that
more subtle social and economic motives were at work.
SHELLEY TICKELL is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of
Hertfordshire
