ABSTRACT
This chapter situates the wider study in the context of London in the period between 1780 and 1850: an era of change, debate, and reform. It examines the context for wider criminal justice and legal reform in this period, revealing the complex interactions between discretion and increased legislative formalisation in this period. The chapter also highlights the court structure in London, with particular emphasis on the courts discussed in this study and their role in this era of reform and change. Finally, it examines the policing reforms in this period through scholarship and rich evidence from Select Committee reports and archival sources that reveals areas of challenge and contestation over policing practices. We see here that this was a formative period in which the debates over criminal justice administration and perceptions of the nature and causes of criminality provided the conditions for proactive policing practices with far-reaching consequences.
