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
What happened as part of a new prison building programme following 1839 prisons act?
In 1848, the Felon’s Wing was replaced with the Crown Wing designed by William Adams Nicholson
Where prisoners were held before trails
Criminals waiting to be executed or transferred to other prisons
H shaped buildings with enclosed exercise yards
Where were debtors housed in the Victorian Prison?
In the Georgian prison building with the prison guards
Guard rooms had big fireplaces and features including large bay windows
Make debtors had a grill over a hole for a fire while females had fireplaces and cupboards
Who introduced the separate system to Lincolnshire?
Joshua Jebb who had built the model prison at Pentonville
What was the point of the separate system?
To contemplate the errors of their lives alone in silence
Could only speak to prison chaplain
Betters system of sewage than outside the Gaol in Lincoln
What design was the Victorian prison similar to?
Panopticon
What did each prisoner have in the Victorian prison?
Well ventilated cell with own toilet and sink. Bath per landing.
Hammock, lit by gaslight and heated by a large boiler in the basement which would blow hot air through a grill in the floor
What was the problem with the sewers?
Got blocked very quickly and the hot air blowing may have been responsible for the 1851 typhoid outbreak
In the chapel what did each prisoner have?
Their own stall so they could only see the chaplain
Removed in 1878 when closed down
Where did executions at Lincoln initially take place?
Outside the castle walls on Burton road
The prisoner was brought to the gallows standing on the back of a cart
How did execution work at Lincoln?
Once the noose has been placed around the neck, the horse would be whipped to pull the cart away and they would then hung until they were dead. For a fee to the hangman, members of the family would be allowed to pull on the victims legs so that they died quicker. The pub opposite the execution site is still called the Struggler’s Arms.
What did John Merriweather do?
Merriweather was governor of Lincoln prison 1799 and 1830. He had a new roof put on Cobb Hall, one of the towers of the castle, to set up gallows inside the castle, but could be seen by more of a public outside and was much more secure.
How many people watched the executions?
15,000
Why was Cobb Hall hanging considered more humane?
The new Cobb Hall gallows were considered to be more humane, even though the trap door and short drop could still take a while to kill someone.
Who was the first person to be executed at Cobb Hall?
Elizabeth Whiting in March 1817 for killing her baby
How many people were executed at the tower between 1817 and 1859?
38
Where are the graves of the criminals?
Lucy Tower in the castle grounds
What was the new method of hanging developed by William Marwood?
Used height and weight to work out how long the rope should be for the most effective hanging. The neck would be broken quickly but without decapitation. Known as measured drop or long drop. William Frederick Henry was the first at Lincoln to be executed by long drop in 1872
When were public hangings banned?
1868 - hangings took place inside Cobb Hall after that
Priscilla Biggadike first person to be hung privately at Lincoln
4 people between 1868 and 1877
When did Lincoln prison close down?
1877
When was the first hanging at HMP Lincoln?
1883
When was HMP Lincoln built?
1872 on Greetwell Road
Category B
Reduced to only male prisoners in 1900
How many executions took place at Lincoln between 1883 and 1961?
18
What happened following a serious prisoner riot in 2002?
Named as one of Britain’s most overcrowded prions
In 2020, how was Lincoln operating at capacity?
Below maximum capacity
How did Lincoln Castle start?
As a simple motte and Bailey in 1068 and was converted to stone in the 12th century
Home of the local sheriff and focus of the local justice system
Who were most medieval prisoners?
Aristocratic rebels and their followers
Prisoners of war
When was Cobb Hall Tower added?
13th century with a dungeon
Who were the most notorious prisoners in the 17th century?
The Witches of Belvoir
What did William Chaldwell describe Lincoln as?
A stinking witch hole
What did John Howard find Lincoln as in 1775?
Gaoler - spacious, tap room, sizeable rooms, however difficult to keep clean
Criminals - trap door, vaulted dungeons 8 feet high, pit 14 feet by 21, condemned cell 14 feet by 7, a little shorts straw, windows 9 inches by 18, offensive,
No fresh water or sewage
No chapel or infirmary
Disease
Mixing of all sorts of prisoners
No moral instruction
Learns from each other
What did the Duke of Montagu find?
Morals neglected like their health
Idleness
Drunkenness
Confirm old offenders to bad practices
Minds corrupted not corrected
What did Howard recommend?
Gaolers be paid to make them less corrupt
Church services
Medical treatment
Help getting a job following release
White washed once a year, twice if crowded
Plentiful supply of water
Kept as clean as possible
Warm and cold bath
Soap and towels
Look after seers
Separation of old and young, men and women, felons and debtors, convicts and those awaiting trails
Clothed in prison uniform
Food allowance
How did Lincoln react to Howard’s criticisms?
Acted on quickly and constructed Georgian prison
Took longer nationally
What were prison guards known as?
Turnkeys
Who was offered a decent salary?
Anyone who could teach reading, writing and arithmetic
3 RS
What happened to William Messenger?
Placed in a dark cell on bread and water for 3 days for destroying Orion books and insolence
Why could Lincoln never fully adopt a separate system?
Concerns over mental health
So many inmates (beyond 12 female and 32 make it was designed to hold)
Outbreak of typhoid fever
Reluctance of magistrates
Was the silent system ever implemented at Lincoln?
No
Running costs too expensive
Prisoner numbers declined
Shifted towards education
What was the 1779 Penitentiary Act?
On recommendation of John Howard
Di little to change prison system in short term
Did inform Peel about what to do with prison system and indirect impact on new facilities
What was the 1823 Gaols Act?
Prisons were to be made more secure and gaolers should be paid
Speration of male and female prisoners
Chaplains should visit prisoners and reform was a priority
Only really became effective in 1835
What was the 1839 Prison Act?
Building of new prison based on separate system
Resulted in Victorian Priosn
What was the 1865 Prisons Act?
Silent system
Used at HMP Lincoln until abolished nationally in 1902
What was the 1869 Debtor’s Act?
Limited ability of courts to give a prison sentence to debtors
Population of Lincoln prison dropped in 1870s
What was the 1877 Prison Act?
Began to give full control of prisons to Home Secretary
Allowed implementation of a uniform system
Resulted in Victorian prison shutting down
How was capital punishment affected by law?
1820s, 30s and 60s reduced number of crimes resulting in execution
Public hangings banned in 1868
Halted in 1948 for 5 years
Homicide Act 1957 reduced number of capital crimes
Executions ended at HMP Lincoln in in 1961, a few years before death penalty abolished in 1969
