1815 Corn Law 23 March

This week is the anniversary of the passing of the 1815 Corn Law. As you will all recall from endless school history lessons, following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, legislation was introduced to regulate the import of cereals in an attempt to maintain an adequate supply for consumers while providing a secure price for the producers. Cereals could not be imported into Britain until the domestic price reached eighty shillings a quarter. This price meant that cereals and bread were more expensive than they needed to be and this caused considerable agitation and resulted, in a number of areas, in the ‘Reading of the Riot Act’. My, how times change.