Walliss, John (2026) Lost and stolen dogs, reward culture, and public participation in England, 1752–76. The Journal of Historical Criminology. ISSN 3066‑991X (In Press)

Preview

PDF (Author's Accepted Manuscript) 53388 WALLISS_Lost_And_Stolen_Dogs_Reward_Culture_(AAM)_2026.pdf - Accepted Version Download (660kB) | Preview

Abstract

This article examines reward notices for lost and stolen dogs in mid-eighteenth-century England using 504 advertisements from the Daily Advertiser (1752–76). It explores how owners employed descriptive language, monetary rewards, and non-financial incentives to recover animals that were not fully recognised as legal property. It argues that such advertisements functioned as practical instruments of recovery and informal justice. The analysis shows how these notices operated within wider cultures of reward advertising and how their language and incentive structures evolved over time, particularly after the 1770 Dog Stealing Act. By situating dog theft within the broader history of reward culture, the article demonstrates how owners pursued recovery and justice in a society where formal policing remained limited and decentralised, and how dogs were understood as socially and emotionally valuable even when their economic worth was limited.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	reward notices, dog theft, Eighteenth-century England, newspaper advertisements, daily Advertiser
Subjects:	C Auxiliary Sciences of History > C Auxiliary sciences of history (General) D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GT Manners and customs P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Law and Criminology
Last Modified:	13 May 2026 10:16
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/53388

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads