‘For deterring others from the like practices’: The Royal Navy and the pillory in early modern England (1660–1742)

Of the many types of offenders who suffered the punishment of the pillory in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in England, one distinct group was those whose crimes related to the Royal Navy. The Navy’s decision to pursue offenders in civilian courts, coupled with its decision to report on offenders, illustrates the importance the Navy placed on the pillory and the civilian courts in curbing fraud, which became a rampant issue from the mid-seventeenth century onward. The Navy expanded its operations but struggled to manage the increased complexity of its financial system, which was subsequently exploited by numerous sailors and civilians. The decision to prosecute offenders in civilian courts brought several issues: informers whose actions brought into question the efficacy of offering rewards, unruly crowds who attacked offenders, and unruly or uncaring offenders who tried to escape or undermine their stint in the pillory by not behaving as expected.