The Dawn of the XIXth Century in England: A social sketch of the times

by John Ashton

“6. That there be given on every barrel of superfine wheaten flour, of 196 lbs. weight, which shall be imported into such ports before the 1st of October, 1801, and sold by public sale by auction, within two months after importation, a bounty equal to the sum by which the actual price of each barrel of such flour so sold, shall be less than 70s.

“7. That there be given on every barrel of fine wheaten flour, of 196 lbs. weight, which shall be imported into such ports before the 1st of October, 1801, and sold by public sale, by auction, within two months after importation, a bounty equal to the sum by which the actual price of each barrel of such flour so sold shall be less than 68s.

“8. That there be given on every cwt. of rice which shall be imported into such ports in any ship which shall have cleared out from any port in the East Indies before the 1st of September, 1801, and which shall be sold by public sale, a bounty equal to the sum by which the actual price of each cwt. of rice so sold shall be less than 32s.

“9. That there be given on every cwt. of rice, from America, which shall be imported into such ports, before the 1st of October, 1801, and sold by public sale by auction, within two months after importation, a bounty equal to the sum by which the actual price of each cwt. of such rice so sold, shall be less than 35s.”

Thus we see that the paternal government of that day did all they could to find food for the hungry; and it is somewhat curious to note the commencement of a trade for food, with two countries like India and the United States of America. Still more did the Government attempt to alleviate the distress by passing an Act (41 Geo. III. c. 16), forbidding the manufacture of fine bread, and enacting that all bread should contain the whole meal—i.e., all the bran, &c.—and be what we term “brown bread.” Indeed the Act was called, popularly, “The Brown Bread Bill.” It came into force on the 16th of January, 1801, a date which was afterwards extended to the 31st of January, but did not last long; its repeal receiving the Royal Assent on the 26th of February of the same year.

So also the authorities did good service in prosecuting bakers for light weight; and the law punished them heavily. I will only make one quotation—Morning Post, February 5, 1801. “Public Office, Bow Street. Light Bread. Several complaints having been made against a baker in the neighbourhood of Bloomsbury, for selling bread short of weight, he was, yesterday, summoned on two informations; the one for selling a quartern loaf deficient of its proper weight eight ounces, and the other for a quartern loaf wanting four ounces. A warrant was also issued to weigh all the bread in his shop, when 29 quartern loaves were seized, which wanted, together, 58 ounces, of their proper weight; the light bread was brought to the office, and the defendant appeared to answer the charges. The parties were sworn as to the purchase of the first two loaves, which being proved, and the loaves being weighed in the presence of the Magistrates, the defendant was convicted in the full penalty of five shillings per ounce for the twelve ounces they were deficient; and, Mr. Ford observing that as the parties complaining were entitled to one moiety of the penalty, he could not with justice remit any part of it.

“Respecting the other 29 loaves, as it was the report of the officers who executed the warrant, that there were a considerable number more found in his shop that were of full weight, it was the opinion of him, and the other Magistrates then present, that the fine should be mitigated to 2s. per ounce, amounting to £5 16s., which the defendant was, accordingly, obliged to pay, and the 29 loaves, which, of course, were forfeited, Mr. Ford ordered to be distributed to the poor.

“A search warrant was also executed at the shop of a baker near Drury Lane, against whom an information had also been laid for selling light bread; but, it being near three o’clock in the afternoon when the officers went to the shop, very little bread remained, out of which, however, they found eight quarterns, three half quarterns, and four twopenny loaves, short of weight 28 ounces, and on which the baker was adjudged to pay 2s. per ounce, and the bread was disposed of in the same manner as the other.”

As we have seen, the price of bread in London was regulated by the civic authorities, according to the price of flour—and it is gratifying to find that they fearlessly exercised their functions. September 1, 1801: “A number of Bakers were summoned to produce their bills of parcels of flour purchased by them during the last two weeks, according to the returns. Many of them were very irregular which they said was owing to the mealmen not giving in their bills of parcels with the price at the time of delivering the flour. They were ordered to attend on a future day, when the mealmen will be summoned to answer that complaint.”

Nor were the bakers, alone, subject to this vigilance, the butchers were well looked after, and, if evil doers, were punished in a way worthy of the times of the “Liber Albus.” Vide the Morning Post, April 16, 1800: “Yesterday, the carcase of a calf which was condemned by the Lord Mayor, as being unwholesome, was burnt before the butcher’s door, in Whitechapel. His Lordship commended the Inquest of Portsoken Ward very much for their exertions in this business, and hoped it would be an example to others, that when warm weather comes on they may have an eye to stalls covered with meat almost putrified, and very injurious to the health of their fellow citizens.”