The Life and Crimes of Charlotte Walker, Prostitute and Pickpocket

Abstract

The eighteenth-century criminal justice system has frequently been depicted as a harsh and unforgiving one; and yet with good luck and a resourceful approach it was still possible to avoid the dreadful hand of justice. This article explores the tactics utilised to survive in a frequently brutal and ruthless system. By examining the 24-year criminal career of one prostitute and pickpocket, Charlotte Walker, the changing nature of the system, and the changing choices available to those accused of crimes in the last three decades of the eighteenth century, will be illustrated. Charlotte Walker was arrested on at least 30 occasions, was tried at the Old Bailey twelve times and acquitted in all but the last trial. She was finally transported in 1800. This extraordinary criminal career raises three questions: how did she manage to evade justice for so long; why was she eventually convicted; and were there other women with similar careers? This article looks closely at both her alleged offences, and the role she played in her own defence in court. It suggests that the changes that were taking place in the system of criminal trial may have helped her to be acquitted so many times, but that new forms of criminal record keeping may in the end have been responsible for her final conviction.