servants may be acquainted with the same’.^160 Similar orders sent the beadles
round with an abstract of the Vagrancy Act passed in 1714 , with the clause of an
act in 1717 ‘to prevent mischiefs by fire’ so that ‘all servants may be acquainted
with the same and know the penalties’ contained therein, and with relevant sec-
tions of the Transportation Act of 1718.^161 Apart from these large-scale distribu-
tions of information, the beadles were also ordered from time to time to
communicate orders and reminders to particular groups in the population—
very often to the constables; at other times, for example, to alehousekeepers.^162
It is an important question how the ordinary citizen learned about the law
and how much they might be expected to know about changes introduced by
parliament—an issue of particular importance in the eighteenth century, when
parliament passed a host of statutes that bore directly on the lives of ordinary
citizens. In the City ofLondon newspaper advertisements were being employed
by the middle of the eighteenth century at least, and the newspapers almost cer-
tainly became in time the main vehicle for the distribution of such information.
Important notices were also placed in ‘public places’. But well into the century
the mechanism by which this public knowledge was created was in the hands of
the ward beadles, men whose longevity in office and supposed full-time com-
mitment to the post put them in a position to know the ward and its inhabitants
in the intimate way such a task required. Presumably much of this work of in-
forming the public was actually done by the warders, the beadles’ assistants, of
whom there were several in each ward, possibly even one in every precinct or
parish in the larger wards.
The Common Council said in 1663 that beadles were valued for the part they
played in the ‘common business and affairs’ of their wards. Much of that work
could be broadly represented as surveillance. They were supposed to have some
knowledge of the inhabitants of their wards; this is no doubt why they were
thought the appropriate vehicle for the distribution of warnings and informa-
tion. They were expected to keep a register of newcomers and to produce lists of
inhabitants for rating purposes—another area that required detailed know-
ledge of the ward and its inhabitants.^163 There was also some expectation that
beadles would make themselves known throughout the ward, to move around
the streets and help keep them clear. They were ordered from time to time to
join with the constables of their wards to arrest vagrants and beggars, to control
the crowds at the lord mayor’s day procession, to prevent sales of fruit and other
goods in the streets on Sundays, and to deal with other problems in the
streets.^164 The more active of the beadles (or perhaps those in the larger and
166 Constables and Other Officers
(^160) Rep 117 , p. 333. (^161) Rep 118 , p. 419 ; Rep 121 , fo. 401 ; Rep 122 , fo. 297.
(^162) Rep 105 , pp. 335 – 6 , 468 ; Rep 106 , p. 156 ; Jor 51 , fo. 107.
(^163) For the registration of newcomers in the sixteenth century, see Archer, Pursuit of
Stability, 220.
(^164) Rep 104 , pp. 574 – 7 ; Rep 137 , p. 37 ; Rep 142 , pp. 174 – 7.