ABSTRACT
At the time of Waterloo England was in the midst of a profound economic and social upheaval. Law and order were of particular political importance because of the disorder and crime that followed in the wake of the demobilised army. 1 Moreover, no observer could fail to be impressed by the deep-seated rifts in the fabric and stability of the nation. Enclosure had been completed and agricultural production revolutionised, supplying both food and labour for the rapidly expanding manufactories. The population was growing at an unprecedented rate: in 1811 the census was 11,000,000; in 1851 over 21,000,000. The increase was mainly concentrated in the towns, some of which more than doubled their populations in a few decades. 2 At the time of Waterloo agriculture was the main employment of the nation; by 1831 'probably half the population already lived under urban conditions'. 3 One reason for the increase in population was a fall in the infant mortality rate which was in turn a reflection of general material improvements in the living conditions of the people, both town-dwellers and country-dwellers. 4
