A few words on poachers

July 08, 2012 15:00

Published: June 18, 2012 12:16 by The Sparrows' Nest |

Published by group: The Sparrows' Nest
Tagged as: culture history repression

Places: nottingham st_anns

In the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries the game laws ensured that only the wealthy landed gentry had the right to take game - wild animals like hares and rabbits, and the whole range of game birds from grouse to partridge. But this law was widely ignored, and the taking of game by the working class was not regarded as real crime by country folk. Poachers - ranging from countrymen who poached singly to large gangs from towns as well as rural areas - ranged widely over the gentry's game preserves and fought bloody battles with their keepers and watchers. The gentry found it impossible to maintain the game laws. Nottinghamshire, with its Dukeries estates, had plenty of poachers and frequent affrays. Poachers risked imprisonment and even transportation for their activities.
At this event a local researcher will share some of her findings on the subject matter.

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