jurisdiction: legal authority.
[59. UNDER GEORGE II. PART V.]
Lighters: large boats or barges used in unloading ships.
bleaching-grounds: where cloth was laid out to be bleached or whitened by the wind and sun.
hopbines: the stalks of hop plants.
transportation: conveying convicted criminals abroad. Till 1869 convicts were sent to Australia; now they are kept in convict prisons at home.
classification: dividing and arranging into classes.
embezzle: to steal something entrusted to one's care.
press-gang: a party of sailors under an officer who forcibly took men to serve in the Royal Navy.