Changes In Crime And Punishment - Lincoln Gaol Flashcards
How did the idea of imprisoning criminals to reform them begin?
Houses of Correction
Bridewells
Both in 16th C
Through hard work
Few facilities
By the 18th C what were most gaols?
Temporary hold for prisoners awaiting trial or punishment
Debtors
Where was the father of Charles Dickens imprisoned?
Marshalsea Prison
Where was the father of John Wesley imprisoned?
Lincoln Gaol
Were prisoners charged?
Yes, by gaolers
Could buy better food or bedding
By the middle of the 18th century, how many were imprisoned in Britain?
4000
What three changes put pressure on the system of bridewells and gaols?
War with American colonies 1776 ending transportation to America
Judges preferred transportation to hanging despite the Bloody Code
Population growth and urbanisation
What were problems with prisons?
Poor sanitation
Buildings unfit for purpose
Prisoners mixed
In late 18th century gaols, how many people died each year?
25%
Who was John Howard?
High Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1773
Published The State of prisons in 1777
What problems did Howard identify?
Levels of illness and death
Lack of separation
Lack of security
Wanted medical treatment, better food and sanitation and make sure gaolers were paid
Wanted religious teachers in prisons
What did Sir George O’ Paul design?
A prison that addressed Howard’s concerns with separation, exercise yards and ventilation.
What did Jeremy Bentham design?
Panopticon prison which organised prisoners in to single cells and allowed the prison guard to observe them more easily. Became very influential in the 1820s
What did Elizabeth Fry do?
She set up a school and chapel at Newgate prison and provided bedding for prisoners
Influenced the 1823 Gaols Act
What was the Bloody Code?
Made most criminal offences punishable by death in the the late 18th century
What were judges reluctant to do?
Sentence criminals to death, they preferred transportation and would often change the crime or reduce the severity to avoid punishing by death
By 1800 how many death sentences actually resulted in a death sentence?
1 in 10
Who was MP Sir Samuel Romilly?
Campaigning against the unnecessary severity of the Code resulted in the the abolition of the death penalty for pickpocketing in 1808
1810 published Observations on the Criminal Law in England
Influenced Sir Robert Peel
What did Sir Robert Peel do?
Abolished the death penalty for 100 crimes as Home Secretary in 1822
Where were some of the prisoners from Lincoln’s Georgian Prison transported to?
Australia
E.g Mrs Mary Burton in 1824 was held in Lincoln for a year before her 14 year transportation sentence
How many convicts were sent to Australia from Lincoln?
1200
Why was Lincoln Castle an ideal place to keep prisoners?
High walls and gates
Which two places kept prisoners at Lincoln Gaol?
The County Gaol
Cobb Tower
What was John Howard horrified to see at Lincoln?
Pit in the ground
Lack of sanitation
Mixing of criminals, debtors and different genders
What happened as a result of John Howard’s findings?
The Georgian Prison was built in 1787 inside the castle designed by William Lumby
What was the Georgian Prison like?
Debtors treated more leniently than criminals
Criminals in Felon’s wing
Prison governed lived in apartment at top with his family
Charged prisoners
What were the concerns before Howard’s report?
Security concerns about constant need to repair castle walls with 7 programmes of repairs between 1756 and 1807
What happened as a result of the repairs?
New, more secure exercise prisons were created behind the Georgian Prison
Debtors Yard added in 1820
Separate yards for men and women
Ash privies
Washrooms and an infirmary built
By 1835 what were there concerns about?
The safety of the Georgian prison building
What system was the Victorian prison based on?
Separate system