Illicit Alcohol, 1789-1914

Tereza Radomirova assisted with data entry and presentation. The dataset includes information on the licit and illicit production and trade in alcohol from 1780-1914, including seizure of illegal alcohol, arrests and prosecutions for relevant offences (e.g. smuggling, illicit distillation, adulteration, unlicensed selling), tax rates, tax revenues, licensing data, consumption and production levels, and alcohol mortality figures.

Much of this data comes from The (UK) National Archive’s CUST series or other official government records. Some relevant case details from the Old Bailey Online archive are included. Additionally, the dataset reproduces some data found in G. Wilson’s book Alcohol and the Nation (1940, Nicholson and Watson: London) and T.R. Gourvish and R.G Wilson’s The British Brewing Industry 1830-1980 (1994, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge).