How many crimes were punishable by death in England in the 1700s?

Answer 1

* 1810. English and Welsh law listed 222 capital felonies at this time. This huge number is reached because English law subdivided many offences, e.g. there were at least 7 forms of capital arson defined. In practice, there were only about 20 offences for which people were actually executed. * From at least 1800, judges had discretion to commute death sentences, e.g. to transportation. Scottish law had just 16 capital offences, although these were only reduced to 4 in 1887. At the Old Bailey, only murderers could be reprieved by judges. All others were dealt with by the Privy Council. In the Assizes courts, judges could offer commutation to all condemned criminals. In all cases, the condemned could petition the Monarch, but there was far too little time for this to succeed normally. * 1814. The last hanging under the "Waltham Black Acts" took place on the 12th of August 1814 when William Potter was hanged for the crime of cutting down an orchard. Even the judge petitioned for a reprieve! The Black Acts were all but repealed in 1823. In 1808 Sir Samuel Romilly had the death penalty removed for pickpockets and lesser offenders, starting a process of reform that continued over the next 50 years. Since the death penalty was mandatory (although it was frequently commuted by the government), the Judgement of Death Act 1823 gave judges the power to commute the death penalty for all capital crimes except treason and murder. In 1861, several acts of Parliament (24 & 25 Vict; c. 94 to c. 100) further reduced the number of civilian capital crimes to five: murder, treason, espionage, arson in royal dockyards, and piracy with violence; there were other offences under military law. The death penalty remained mandatory for treason and murder, unless commuted.

Answer 2

There are believed to be 225 crimes that were made punishable by death in the 1700's and some of them were minor crimes such as roaming the streets at night with a blackened face.