Society for the Reformation of Manners
Encyclopedia
The Society for the Reformation of Manners was founded in the Tower Hamlets area of London
in 1691. Its espoused aims were the suppression of profanity
, immorality, and other lewd activities in general, and of brothel
s and prostitution
in particular.
One of many similar societies founded in that period, it reflected a sea-change in the social attitudes in England
following the Glorious Revolution
of 1688, and a shifting from the socially liberal attitudes of the Restoration
period under Charles II
and James II
to a more moral and censorious attitude of respectability and seriousness under William and Mary
. Although inspired and fed by the moral excesses of London, branches were set up in towns and cities as far afield as Edinburgh
, where Daniel Defoe
was a member, though the societies never flourished in rural areas.
The Society was arranged in four tiers, with the "Society of Original Gentlemen" at the top. These eminent professionals (lawyers, judges and MP
s) along with the original founders, provided the expertise and financing to enable prosecutions to proceed. The next tier was the "Second Society" which consisted mainly of tradesmen, and whose role it was to suppress vice. Among other methods, the "Second Society" employed a blacklist which they published annually to shame the alleged offenders. Below the tradesmen was the "Association of Constables" who took a more active role in arresting the miscreants who offended the public morality
. Finally the fourth layer consisted of informers: a network of "moral guardians" throughout the City of London
, with two stewards in each parish
, to gather information about moral infractions. The central committee of "Original Gentlemen" collected the information with a view to passing the information to the local magistrate
s, so the malefactors could be prosecuted and punished. The Society would pay others to bring prosecutions, or bring prosecutions on its own account.
A prominent supporter of the Society was John Gonson
, Justice of the Peace
and Chairman of the Quarter Sessions
for the City of Westminster
for 50 years in the early 18th century. He was noted for his enthusiasm for raiding brothel
s and for passing harsh sentences, and was depicted twice in William Hogarth
's A Harlot's Progress
series of paintings and engravings. In around 1770, the Society denounced Covent Garden
as:
The Society sought and gained the patronage of both Church and Crown: John Tillotson
, the Archbishop of Canterbury
between 1691 and 1694 actively encouraged the Society and his successor Thomas Tenison
commended them to his bishops, while Queens Mary
and Anne both issued Proclamations against Vice at the Society's urging. The Society also had influence within the House of Lords
, demonstrated by a declaration of support signed by 36 of the members. While there were undoubtedly MPs that shared the Society's viewpoint and some which were members, there was little relevant legislation passed during the period of the Society's activities and the Society paid little attention to the House of Commons
. Jonathan Swift wrote a supportive tract in his A Project for the Advancement of Religion, and the Reformation of Manners (1709), although some detect satirical intent in the otherwise serious proposal.http://books.google.com/books?vid=0576W4f0zEbDN68K&id=gFNSCVYBqikC&pg=RA1-PA399&lpg=RA1-PA399
The Society also brought lawsuits against playwrights whose plays were perceived to contain insufficient moral instruction. The new attitude to the theatre may be judged from the anti-theatre pamphlet Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage
by Jeremy Collier
, from 1698, who attacked the lack of moral instruction contained in contemporary plays, such as Love For Love (1695) by William Congreve
and The Relapse
(1696) by John Vanbrugh
, signalling the end of the popularity of Restoration comedy
.
The Society flourished until the 1730s, with 1,363 prosecutions in 1726-7. There was a series of raids on "molly house
s" (homosexual brothels) in 1725. One prominent victim of the Society was Charles Hitchen
, a "thief-taker" and Under City Marshal. He acted as a "finder" of stolen merchandise, negotiating a fee for the return of the stolen items, while extorting bribes from pickpockets to prevent arrest, and leaning on the thieves to make them fence
their stolen goods through him. His business may have been undermined by the success of his competitor Jonathan Wild
. In 1727, Hitchen was accused of sodomitical practices, and tried for sodomy
(a capital offence) and attempted sodomy. He was sentenced to a fine of 20 pounds
, to be put in the pillory
for one hour, and then to serve six months in prison. He was badly beaten while in the pilory, and died soon after being released from prison.
The Society was revived for a period in the 1750s, triggered by the libertine excesses of the Hellfire Club
, and was recognised by George II
. A later successor was William Wilberforce
's Society for Suppression of Vice
, founded following a Royal Proclamation by George III
in 1787, "For the Encouragement of Piety and Virtue, and for the Preventing and Punishing of Vice, Profaneness and Immorality".
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1691. Its espoused aims were the suppression of profanity
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
, immorality, and other lewd activities in general, and of brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s and prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
in particular.
One of many similar societies founded in that period, it reflected a sea-change in the social attitudes in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
following the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688, and a shifting from the socially liberal attitudes of the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
period under Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
to a more moral and censorious attitude of respectability and seriousness under William and Mary
William and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
. Although inspired and fed by the moral excesses of London, branches were set up in towns and cities as far afield as Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, where Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
was a member, though the societies never flourished in rural areas.
The Society was arranged in four tiers, with the "Society of Original Gentlemen" at the top. These eminent professionals (lawyers, judges and MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
s) along with the original founders, provided the expertise and financing to enable prosecutions to proceed. The next tier was the "Second Society" which consisted mainly of tradesmen, and whose role it was to suppress vice. Among other methods, the "Second Society" employed a blacklist which they published annually to shame the alleged offenders. Below the tradesmen was the "Association of Constables" who took a more active role in arresting the miscreants who offended the public morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
. Finally the fourth layer consisted of informers: a network of "moral guardians" throughout the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, with two stewards in each parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
, to gather information about moral infractions. The central committee of "Original Gentlemen" collected the information with a view to passing the information to the local magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s, so the malefactors could be prosecuted and punished. The Society would pay others to bring prosecutions, or bring prosecutions on its own account.
A prominent supporter of the Society was John Gonson
John Gonson
Sir John Gonson was a British judge for nearly 50 years in the early 18th century, serving as a Justice of the Peace and Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the City of Westminster...
, Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
and Chairman of the Quarter Sessions
Quarter Sessions
The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the United Kingdom and other countries in the former British Empire...
for the City of Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
for 50 years in the early 18th century. He was noted for his enthusiasm for raiding brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s and for passing harsh sentences, and was depicted twice in William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
's A Harlot's Progress
A Harlot's Progress
A Harlot's Progress is a series of six paintings and engravings by William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, Mary Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country and becomes a prostitute...
series of paintings and engravings. In around 1770, the Society denounced Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
as:
The Society sought and gained the patronage of both Church and Crown: John Tillotson
John Tillotson
John Tillotson was an Archbishop of Canterbury .-Curate and rector:Tillotson was the son of a Puritan clothier at Haughend, Sowerby, Yorkshire. He entered as a pensioner of Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1647, graduated in 1650 and was made fellow of his college in 1651...
, the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
between 1691 and 1694 actively encouraged the Society and his successor Thomas Tenison
Thomas Tenison
Thomas Tenison was an English church leader, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694 until his death. During his primacy, he crowned two British monarchs.-Life:...
commended them to his bishops, while Queens Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
and Anne both issued Proclamations against Vice at the Society's urging. The Society also had influence within the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, demonstrated by a declaration of support signed by 36 of the members. While there were undoubtedly MPs that shared the Society's viewpoint and some which were members, there was little relevant legislation passed during the period of the Society's activities and the Society paid little attention to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
. Jonathan Swift wrote a supportive tract in his A Project for the Advancement of Religion, and the Reformation of Manners (1709), although some detect satirical intent in the otherwise serious proposal.http://books.google.com/books?vid=0576W4f0zEbDN68K&id=gFNSCVYBqikC&pg=RA1-PA399&lpg=RA1-PA399
The Society also brought lawsuits against playwrights whose plays were perceived to contain insufficient moral instruction. The new attitude to the theatre may be judged from the anti-theatre pamphlet Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage
Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage
In March of 1698, Jeremy Collier published his anti-theater pamphlet, A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage; in the pamphlet, Collier attacks a number of playwrights: William Wycherley, John Dryden, William Congreve, John Vanbrugh, and Thomas D’Urfey...
by Jeremy Collier
Jeremy Collier
Jeremy Collier was an English theatre critic, non-juror bishop and theologian.-Life:Born in Stow cum Quy, Cambridgeshire, Collier was educated at Caius College, University of Cambridge, receiving the BA and MA . A supporter of James II, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and...
, from 1698, who attacked the lack of moral instruction contained in contemporary plays, such as Love For Love (1695) by William Congreve
William Congreve
William Congreve was an English playwright and poet.-Early life:Congreve was born in Bardsey, West Yorkshire, England . His parents were William Congreve and his wife, Mary ; a sister was buried in London in 1672...
and The Relapse
The Relapse
The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger is a Restoration comedy from 1696 written by John Vanbrugh. The play is a sequel to Colley Cibber's Love's Last Shift, or, Virtue Rewarded....
(1696) by John Vanbrugh
John Vanbrugh
Sir John Vanbrugh – 26 March 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites...
, signalling the end of the popularity of Restoration comedy
Restoration comedy
Restoration comedy refers to English comedies written and performed in the Restoration period from 1660 to 1710. After public stage performances had been banned for 18 years by the Puritan regime, the re-opening of the theatres in 1660 signalled a renaissance of English drama...
.
The Society flourished until the 1730s, with 1,363 prosecutions in 1726-7. There was a series of raids on "molly house
Molly house
A Molly house is an archaic 18th century English term for a tavern or private room where homosexual and cross-dressing men could meet each other and possible sexual partners. Molly houses were one precursor to some types of gay bars....
s" (homosexual brothels) in 1725. One prominent victim of the Society was Charles Hitchen
Charles Hitchen
Charles Hitchen was a "thief-taker" in 18th century London who was also famously tried for homosexuality....
, a "thief-taker" and Under City Marshal. He acted as a "finder" of stolen merchandise, negotiating a fee for the return of the stolen items, while extorting bribes from pickpockets to prevent arrest, and leaning on the thieves to make them fence
Fence
A fence is a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary. It is generally distinguished from a wall by the lightness of its construction: a wall is usually restricted to such barriers made from solid brick or concrete, blocking vision as well as passage .Fences...
their stolen goods through him. His business may have been undermined by the success of his competitor Jonathan Wild
Jonathan Wild
Jonathan Wild was perhaps the most infamous criminal of London — and possibly Great Britain — during the 18th century, both because of his own actions and the uses novelists, playwrights, and political satirists made of them...
. In 1727, Hitchen was accused of sodomitical practices, and tried for sodomy
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
(a capital offence) and attempted sodomy. He was sentenced to a fine of 20 pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
, to be put in the pillory
Pillory
The pillory was a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse, sometimes lethal...
for one hour, and then to serve six months in prison. He was badly beaten while in the pilory, and died soon after being released from prison.
The Society was revived for a period in the 1750s, triggered by the libertine excesses of the Hellfire Club
Hellfire Club
The Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century, and was more formally or cautiously known as the "Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe"...
, and was recognised by George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
. A later successor was William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
's Society for Suppression of Vice
Society for Suppression of Vice
The Society for the Suppression of Vice was a nineteenth-century English society established in 1802. The society is not to be confused with its later namesake, the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice.M.J.D...
, founded following a Royal Proclamation by George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
in 1787, "For the Encouragement of Piety and Virtue, and for the Preventing and Punishing of Vice, Profaneness and Immorality".
External links
- The Reformation of Manners, extracts from 18th century newspapers, compiled by Rictor NortonRictor NortonDr. Rictor Norton is an American scholar of literary and cultural history, particularly gay history. He is based in London, England.- Biography :...
.