What is that sign on a building beside the road in Alport all about?
The notice reads: NOTICE TO ALL VAGABONDS FOUND LODGING LOITERING OR BEGGING WITHIN THIS HAMLET WILL BE TAKEN UP AND DEALT WITH AS THE LAW DIRECTS. The english could be improved, but the intention is clear enough! A vital clue is the legal reference on the sign: Vagrancy Act 1824. This was a set of laws passed in response to the large number of soldiers discharged at the end of the Napoloeonic Wars. Many, no doubt traumatised by their experiences, could not find work, were homeless and took to begging. The 1824 Act not only criminalised beggars, including those who exposed their wounds or used children to beg for them, it made loitering an offence and gave the police power to search people they suspected of a crime. This sus law remained in force until the 1980’s, when the widespread use of the Act by the police to stop and search young men contributed to the riots in Bristol and London.
