Event Type: Branch

Takes Place: 12th May 2025

Time: 7.30pm

Venue: University of Gloucestershire, Park Campus, Cheltenham GL50 2RH and online via Zoom

Description: Crimes such as poaching and incendiarism have been labelled by anthropologist James Scott as examples of ‘weapons of the weak’, covert actions that allow the powerless within a society to resist exploitation without having to resort to more overt deeds such as riot and rebellion. While these acts are conducted on a small scale, their cumulative impact can be considerable. The stereotype of the lone poacher, forced into criminality through the desperation of poverty, taking food from the lands of an uncaring elite in order to support his family, has long been considered synonymous with the concept of protest through crime. Poachers have been represented as fighting in a ‘crusade against privilege and the class monopoly of the Game Laws’, and have come to represent a fundamental element in the creation of working-class consciousness in the nineteenth century. The reality, however, was far more nuanced. The same concepts have been applied to incendiarism, particularly the targeting of agricultural property. Arson has been described as the ‘prime weapon of rural war […] a hallmark of social protest’ during the nineteenth century. Historians have pointed to the hopelessness felt by the rural poor during this period, a time that saw their quality of life ‘degraded to a state of wretchedness’, their living standards often worse than the animals to which they tended. It has been argued that incendiarism, and crime in general, provided the rural poor with a level of agency they otherwise lacked. Their crimes, therefore, were justified. Early nineteenth century Gloucestershire provides a fascinating case study regarding these issues. This talk will examine examples of poaching and incendiarism within the county. The extent to which both crimes should be considered a justifiable form of protest will also be discussed.

How to book: Zoom link will be published before the event

Price: Free for members and students, £4 for guests

Tel: 01242574889

Email: histassocglos@gmail.com

Organiser: Andrea Robertson

Lecturer: Mr Tom Wilkinson, Senior School Teacher and PhD studentand

Region: West Midlands

Branch: Gloucestershire