are some that suggest that a section of criminal activity was thought to be
female dominated, such as stealing from lodgers, stealing clothing left to dry
on hedges and so on. It was thought by some that women were better at
picking pockets (Plate 6) and shoplifting, as their many layers of clothing
made it easier to conceal stolen goods. There were couples who worked
together, but in these cases it was usually only the man who was charged with
the crime, as the socialmoresof the day regarded the male of the household as
the responsible individual in law. Women supported male thieves and robbers
too, bringing them food, and hiding them from the law officers.
Small thefts were often dealt with without recourse to the authorities–the
victim might go with some friends to the home of the suspect and recover the
stolen items, perhaps administering a beating or extorting extra compensation
from the thief. Such cases are recorded in a number of places, in rural Wales
and elsewhere. Many people would have been reluctant to go to law–they
would face a timeconsuming process that would take them away from their
work, and there would be expenses and inconvenience. Some would have
been afraid in case the thieves or their friends took vengeance upon them. And
then there was the problem of investigation–with no police force, it was the
victim and his friends who had to take on the duty of finding the villain and
proving his guilt, not always an easy thing to do. Local knowledge of victim
and offender counted for a great deal, but was not always enough to make an
arrest or extract a confession. Sometimes people undertook investigations in
order to avoid being in trouble themselves, for example if they had
inadvertently bought stolen goods.
In Wrexham in 1676, two butchers bought thirty sheep from a pair of
brothers called Thomas, only to have the real owner, Mr Phillips, turn up and
accuse them of the theft. They were forced to obtain a warrant to search for
the real thieves. Eventually, the son of one of the butchers found the Thomas
brothers in Shrewsbury, after a considerable amount of time and effort. In
another case Hugh, a butcher in Llanrwst, was accused of stealing sheep that
he claimed to have bought from a man called Evans. Hugh was an established
dealer with witnesses to his legitimate trade, but there were no witnesses to his
deal with Evans, who could not be found, and although Hugh had been
nowhere near the scene of the crime, he was nevertheless convicted of theft.
Markets were good places in which to sell stolen goods, as were alehouses.
Few people made close enquiries about where the goods had come from if
they were presented with a bargain. This was an area where women were
prominent in crime–as stallholders and alehouse keepers with premises
where stolen goods could be fenced ─ as well as committing thefts
EARLY MODERN CRIME