History of Britain, Episode 3

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Summary

The Georgians experienced bad harvests and famine. For some, like Charles Smith, the only way to put a nutritious meal on the table was to poach game from the nearby estate. Poaching was amongst mo...

The Georgians experienced bad harvests and famine. For some, like Charles Smith, the only way to put a nutritious meal on the table was to poach game from the nearby estate. Poaching was amongst more than 200 offences you could be hanged for, but Charles had a cunning plan...Many chose gin, to cope with Georgian life. Elizabeth Bowman decided that she'd supply it. Tony follows her from buying ingredients in Covent Garden, to hawking it at hangings and wrestling matches. But, with average consumption of gin at two pints a week for adults it was killing Londoners and Elizabeth's enterprise soon became illegal.

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