This book surveys crime and the treatment of criminals in bygone Sussex, illustrated with extracts from late 18th century copies of the Sussex Weekly Advertiser, the county's first weekly news-paper. “You may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.”The saying dates back to the days when sheep-stealing was punishable by death. For stealing a lamb you would be “hanged by the neck until you were dead.” The same punishment was meted out for stealing a sheep, so you ran no greater risk for stealing the more valuable article. (This law was repealed in 1828.)
CONTENTS: CONFIDENCE TRICKSTERS • DUELS • FOOTPADS AND HIGHWAYMAN • KEEPING LAW AND ORDER PRISONS • PUNISHMENTS SERIOUS CRIME • SMUGGLERS • THEFT • INDEX OF SURNAMES • INDEX OF PLACE-NAMES
