The 1700s were a period of great change in Europe, and especially in England. There was an industrial revolution. This was a time when many machines were being invented for use in large factories. With machines now doing the ordinary tasks of men, people were left without jobs and wages. This made it very difficult to survive. Men, women and even children resorted to theft in order to live. With the rise of machines, farmers were also forced to move to the city to look for jobs. As a result, London had become very overcrowded, and so had the prisons. In fact, prisons had become so overcrowded that convicts had been relegated to hulks (floating prisons). 