Lincoln Prison

Question 1

How many crimes were punishable by death, under the Bloody Code?

Answer 1

200

Question 2

By 1861, 200 crimes reduced to how many that were punishable by death?

Answer 2

2

Question 3

By the 1830s, how many convicts were transported to Australia?

Answer 3

3000

Question 4

What did parliament pass that led to the building of more prisons?

Answer 4

1839 Prisons Act

Question 5

What were large ships called that held prisoners?

Answer 5

Prison Hulks

Question 6

What percentage of prisoners died every year because of awful conditions - “gaol fever”?

Answer 6

25%

Question 7

What were the three prison reformers called?

Answer 7

Elizabeth Fry, John Howard and Sir George O’Paul

Question 8

What was the name of the structure of Lincoln Prison? (The cells would be open to a central tower)

Answer 8

Panopticon

Question 9

What changes to prison design did sir George o Paul make?

Answer 9

Addressed many of Howard’s concerns.
Separated male and female prisoners.
Provided workshops and chapels.

Question 10

Give three changes which put huge pressure on the old system of bridewells and gaols:

Answer 10

1. War of Independence: America’s independence meant that they closed themselves off from future transportation of criminals.
2. Judges preferred to transport prisoners instead of execution, so now they sent them to the gaols instead of execution.
3. Population Growth and increasing urbanisation, increased crime and prisons became overcrowded.

Question 11

What book did John Howard write?

Answer 11

The State of Prisons

Question 12

What did Sir George O Paul suggest that would prevent the spread of diseases liked typhus?

Answer 12

Regular exercise and ventilation

Question 13

What act of parliament was passed based on Elizabeth Fry’s campaigning to improve prison conditions?

Answer 13

The Gaols Act 1823

Question 14

By 1800, how many death sentences actually resulted in a death sentence, due to judges viewing the bloody code as too harsh?

Answer 14

1 in 10

Question 15

Which prison was built inside of Lincoln Prison due to John Howard’s criticism?

Answer 15

The Georgian Prison

Question 16

What did Gaolers do since they weren’t paid?

Answer 16

They financially exploited their position.
They charged prisoners for bedding and food or to have their shackles removed.

Question 17

Describe the Georgian Prison.

Answer 17

• debtors treated more leniently than criminals, with much nicer cells.
• the prisoner governor lived in an apartment at the top with his family.
• a new debtors yard was added, alongside the separate exercise yards for male and female prisoners.
• washrooms and an infirmary were built.

Question 18

Why was the Victorian prison built?

Answer 18

1839 Prisons Act
To follow the separate system.

Question 19

Describe the Victorian prison.

Answer 19

• H shape with enclosed exercise yards.
• Guards lived here, with large bay windows to observe prisoners in the exercising yard.
• Separate and Silent system
• The separate exercise yards where prisoners exercised alone had a better sewage and drainage system than London.

Question 20

Describe the separate and silent system in the Victorian prison.

Answer 20

• Prisoners were kept separate at all times so that they could contemplate the errors of their lives alone in silence.
• The only person they could speak to was the prison chaplain.

Question 21

Describe a prison cell in the Victorian prison.

Answer 21

• Male debtors had a grill over a hole for a fire, while female debtors had fireplaces and cupboards.
• Each prisoner had their own cell which was well ventilated with its own toilet and sink.
• Prisoners slept on a hammock.
• These cells were lit by gas light.
• Cells were heated by a large boiler in the basement, which blew in hot air through a grill in the floor. (Could have been responsible for a typhoid outbreak, since sewers got blocked easily and this air was circulated.)

Question 22

How were prisoners originally executed?

Answer 22

• Executions had taken place outside the castle walls.
• Prisoner would stand on the back of a cart.
• Once the noose had been placed around their neck, the horse would be whipped to pull the cart away.
• For a fee to the hangman, the family could pull on the victim’s legs so that they die faster.

Question 23

How did the location of executions change between 1799 and 1830 (after the horse and cart method outside the prison gates)?

Answer 23

They put a roof on Cobb Hall, one of the prison towers.
The gallows could be seen by many more people and it was more secure.

Question 24

Executions were very popular, sometimes as many as _______ people watched.

Answer 24

15,000

Question 25

What style of executions happened in the Cobb Hall gallows?

Answer 25

Short drop, trap door.
3 foot rope.
They were much more humane, but still could take a while to kill someone.
38 were executed in this way.

Question 26

What style of execution was more effective after the ‘short drop’?

Answer 26

The ‘long drop’.
Method of using someone’s height and weight to work out how long the rope should be for the mot effective hanging.
The right length of rope meant they could have a quick deal without the risk of decapitation which was too gruesome for the audience.

Question 27

What act banned public hangings?

Answer 27

1868 Capital Punishment Amendment Act

Question 28

How were executions carried out after public hangings were banned?

Answer 28

Took place inside Cobb Hall with only journalists present.

Question 29

What happened in 2002, in the new prison HMP Lincoln, built after the Victorian Prison closed down?

Answer 29

A serious prisoner riot, the prison was named one of Britain’s most overcrowded prison.

Question 30

What was the silent system?

Answer 30

• Much harsher than the separate system.
• Prisoners had to send their day doing hard labour, pointless task like turning a crank and walking the treadmill.
• They ate basic food and slept in uncomfortable conditions.
• In the hope that they wouldn’t recommit.

Question 31

Why was the silent system phased out by the 20th century?

Answer 31

Attitudes shifted to educating prisoners as a means of reforming them.