Desertion by a man of his family was a common offense. Parishes
providing upkeep for the family sent men to find the errant
husbands. The parish would ask unmarried mothers who was the
father of their child and then force him to marry her or pay for
the upkeep of the child. He often made a bargain with the parish
to release him of his obligation for a sum of money paid to the
parish. But many young parish children died of neglect, and later,
parishes were required to list children under four to aid in
accounting for them. Divorces were still few and expensive, but
increasing in number; there were more 60 in this period. It was
easier for a man to get a divorce for one act of adultery by his
wife, than for a wife to get one for habitual unfaithfulness.
Vagrants and other offenders could be committed to Houses of
Correction as well as to county gaols, because of the expense of
the latter.
Crime was exacerbated by orgies of liquor drinking by the common
people, especially between 1730 and 1750, the sale of which did
not have to be licensed as did ale. In 1736, it was required that
retailers of brandy, rum, and other distilled spirituous liquors
be licensed and to pay 50 pounds a year for their license, because
excessive use had been detrimental to health, rendering persons
unfit for useful labor and business, debauching their morals, and
inciting them to vices. Only persons keeping public victualling
houses, inns, coffee houses, alehouses or brandy shops who
exercised no other trade were allowed to obtain a license.
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