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County Expenses, Crime, &c

The sums expended in each of those years for the maintenance of the poor were :

1801: £36,891, being an average of 11 shillings, 7 pence for each inhabitant.
1811: £61,273, being an average of 17 shillings, 5 pence for each inhabitant.
1821: £68,626, being an average of 16 shillings, 5 pence for each inhabitant.
1831: £81,016, being an average of 16 shillings, 11 pence for each inhabitant.

The average proportion for the whole of England during the same years was 9 shillings 5 pence, 13 shillings 5 pence, 10 shillings 11 pence, and 9 shillings 11 pence, respectively.

The total amount of money raised for poor-rate and county-rate in the year ending 25th March, 1833, was £91,761 8 shillings, and was levied as follows:-

On Land: £81,101, 7 shillings
Dwelling houses : £9,918
Mills, &c. : £345, 16 shillings
Manorial profits, &c. : £396, 5 shillings
TOTAL £91,761, 8 shillings

Of which was expended-
For the relief of the poor : £80,384, 11 shillings
In suits of law, removal of paupers, &c. : £1,273
For other purposes : £9,388, 6 shillings

The number of inhabited houses in the years when the census was taken was 11,888, 13,286, 15,412, and 17,978.

The annual proportions of baptisms, burials, and mar-riages to the population, in the five years preceding the four enumeration’s above-mentioned, were :-

1796-1800
baptisms 1 in 35
burials 1 in 51
marriages 1 in 141

1806-1810
baptisms 1 in 32
burials 1 in 48
marriages 1 in 131

1816-1820
baptisms 1 in 33
burials 1 in 57
marriages 1 in 123

1826-1830
baptisms 1 in 35
burials 1 in 54
marriages 1 in 129

The proportion of illegitimate children born in 1830 to the number of children born in wedlock was one in thirty ; the number of illegitimate children was 41 males and 50 females.

The number of turnpike-trusts in the county in 1829 was 15 ; the extent of turnpike-roads under their charge 238 miles ; the annual income of the same, derived from tolls and parish composition, was £17,938, and the annual outlay for repairing and management £17,993.

The county expenditure for several local purposes in 1833 was as follows :-

Bridges and roads leading to them : £145, 8 shillings, 5 pence
Gaols : £161, 9 shillings, 6 pence
Bridewells, or houses of correction : £436, 1 shilling, 11 pence
Courts of justice : £86, 11 shillings, 10 pence
County surveyor : £58, 15 shillings, 6 pence
Expenses of criminal trials at quarter-sessions : £319, 17 shillings, 1 penny
Expenses of criminal trials at circuits : £521, 17 shillings, 4 pence
Expenses of coroners : £88, 1 shilling, 9 pence
Expenses of shire-halls : £225, 19 shillings, 10 pence
Expenses of lunatic asylums : £649, 18 shillings, 8 pence

The entire sum levied for county-rate £5,816

The total numbers of persons charged with criminal offences in Bedfordshire, in each of the periods of seven years ending with 1820, 1827, and 1834, were 367,766 and 812 respectively, being an average of 52 annually in the first period, 109 in the second period, and 116 in the seven years ended with 1834.

The number of offences tried at quarter-sessions in 1833 was 71 :
Convictions : 46
Acquittals : 9
Discharged by proclamation : 16

The total number of persons charged with crimes at the assizes in 1834 was 164. Of these, 16 were Expenses of criminal trials offences against the person; 11 offences against property committed with violence (housebreaking) ; 86 offences against property with-out violence ; 68 of the offences in this class are described as simple larceny ; 7 were malicious offences against property (killing and maiming cattle, and arson) ; of the remaining 44 charges, 12 were offences against the game laws, 32 were for trifling breaches of the peace. The total number of convictions was 130, only 5 of which were for capital offences, and the sentences upon these 5 convicts having been commuted for transportation, 4 for life and 1 for fourteen years ; no execution took place within the county during the year. Of the 164 persons charged, 158 were males, and only 6 females ; their ages respectively were as follows :-

under 12 years of age : 1 male, 0 female
between 12 and 16 : 5 males, 0 females
between 16 and 21 : 42 males, 1 female
between 21 and 30 : 70 males, 4 females
between 30 and 40 : 22 males, 0 females
between 40 and 50 : 6 males, 1 female
between 50 and 60 : 7 males, 0 females
above 60 years of age : 4 males, 0 females
age not ascertained : 1 male

The proportion of offenders to the population was 1 in 582 ; the proportion for the whole of England and Wales was 1 in 619. The centesimal proportion of offences committed with violence was 16.47, the proportion for England and Wales being 17.44. Offences against property in this county 52.44, in all England 73.97. Malicious offences 4.27 in Bedfordshire, and 0.72 in all England. Other offences (game laws and breaches of the peace), centesimal proportion in Bedfordshire 26.82, in all England and Wales 5.95. There was not any charge in this county in 1834, for forgery and offences against the currency : the centesimal proportion of this class of crimes for the whole of England and Wale was 1.92.

There are three savings' banks in the county, at Bedford, Ampthill, and Biggleswade : the total number of depositors on 30th November, 1833, was 1,858, and the amount deposited £63,333. More than half the accounts were for sums under £20 : the whole may be classed thus :-

948 depositors under £20 : £7,070 deposited.
502 depositors under £50 : £15,331 deposited
250 depositors under £100 : £17,268 deposited
85 depositors under £150 : £10,138 deposited
56 depositors under £200 : £9,402
17 depositors above £200 : £4,124

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