"The Bloody Code" is slang for Britain's ruthless capital punishment legislation, which made over 200 petty offenses punishable by death. Crimes like forgery, cutting down trees, stealing horses or sheep, being an unwed mother concealing a stillbirth child, destroying a fishing pond, or even having your face blacked out at night could result to your untimely demise.
The gallows where public executions happened like Tyburn Hanging Tree in Speakers' Corner and moved to the infamous Newgate Prison. Originally, prisoners would be housed at Newgate, making them travel to execution sites, but in 1783, the decision was made to have it all centralized at Newgate. A case of the Monday's really has new meaning when you discover that public executions were held here on Monday's.
Image Source:
Bradshaw, Edward. “Newgate Prison.” Historic UK, www.historic-uk.com/DestinationsUK/Newgate-Prison/.
Works Cited:
National Justice Museum. “The ‘Bloody Code’?” National Justice Museum, 29 July 2019, www.nationaljusticemuseum.org.uk/museum/news/what-was-the-bloody-code.
“The History of London’s Newgate Prison.” London Museum, 2024, www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/history-londons-newga....