Crime and punishment in 15th, 16th and 17th century Hull

In the 16th and 17th centuries Hull’s corporation was driven by a Puritan ideal, whether seen as right or wrong, the town’s corporation had its inhabitants in its best interests (and probably their own!). Some offences differ little from those today. However, some offences from the past could be seen as medalling and controlling people’s lives. Here are some examples of offences under Hull Corporation and punishments it handed out during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

• In 1453 a woman was dismissed from the town for ‘frequent and notorious, but unspecified behaviour’
• In 1456 an old man assaulted a child and was ordered to leave the town for the next five years
• Margaret Bell in 1612 was imprisoned due to obscenities and only to be realised when she could guarantee her good behaviour
• Deception of blackmail as against Thomas and Isobel West in 1565. Isobel had agreed to entertain a young man, a merchant from London. When Isobel assured him that her husband was away, and while in bed, Isobel’s in bed her husband came out with a dagger and extracted £3.4s for the young man.
• Shropshire man, Richard Moore enquired at Hull could best afford to borrow money to the crown. Suspicious, the bench referred the matter to the Council of the North. They in turn instructed that a scaffold be erected in the Market Place with paper pinned to the Richard Moore inscribed in capitals ‘for spreading seditious and slanderous rumours’. He was also expelled from the town.
• In 1595, Thomas Emmerson was convicted at York. Hanged at Hull, Emmerson was found to have robbed and killed a ships master after sailing from Berwick to Hull. He was also accused of throwing the masters body overboard.
• George Shaw imprisoned in 1560 for an unlicenced alehouse
• Unlawful games such as bowls, dice, cards, and backgammon were prohibited. Lawful pleasures were also scoffed upon. A travelling theatre was thrown of out Hull in 1599 for a performance at the Kings Head which was seen as inappropriate for the town’s inhabitants.

Read more in Gillett and MacMahon's History of Hull (lending copies available at the Hull History Centre's Local Studies Library)

A History of Hull [Ref: L.9.7]

Neil Chadwick

Librarian/Archivist