Page 29 - All About History - Issue 52-17

There is a statue
of John Howard in
St Paul’s Cathedral
– he was the first JOHN HOWARD BRITISH, 1726-90
civilian to receive Having experienced a French prison first-hand when his ship was captured in 1756, John Howard was
such an honour
appalled to discover that British jails were no better when he was tasked with supervising the county
jail as high-sheriff of Bedfordshire. Voicing his concerns led to two 1774 parliamentary acts outlining
improvements to prison management, but when the proposals were not carried out, Howard embarked on
a tour of European jails to investigate the matter further. He travelled over 80,000 kilometres and wrote
books promoting the use of prisons for reform and rehabilitation,
The contents not just punishment, inspiring the work of the 1866 Howard
Association charity founded in his honour.
of John Howard’s
book about the state of
prisons were considered
so shocking that some
countries, such as
France, banned it

SIR JOSHUA JEBB Henry’s influence on

BRITISH, 1793-1863 the court process
shaped the system we
Appointed surveyor-general of prisons in recognise today
1837, royal engineer Joshua Jebb designed Dorothea Dix was a staunch advocate
for improving the treatment of the
several new prisons that pioneered the mentally ill HENRY II ANGEVIN, 1133-89
‘separate system’; the separate housing Many consider King Henry II the father of English
of inmates in wings radiating out from DOROTHEA DIX common law, as he transformed it from a system of
a central hall. His most notable creation AMERICAN, 1802-87 trial by combat to one of trial by grand jury. As well as
was Pentonville Prison in London, which establishing courts, he also ordered the construction of
Dorothea Dix first experienced the appalling
featured heating, lighting, ventilation many jails, including Newgate Prison in
treatment of mentally ill prisoners when
and sanitary arrangements in each cell London, to hold those awaiting trial.
she began teaching at a women’s prison During
and became a model for future prison The conditions in these jails were
in Massachusetts in 1841. Infuriated
construction. Jebb was later appointed a European pretty basic, with prisoners
after discovering the inmates caged
chairman of the Directors of Convict visit, Dorothea Dix sleeping on the bare earth and
and chained and living in cold and
Prisons and received a knighthood in having to pay the warders for
unsanitary conditions, she launched a met Pope Pius IX, who
recognition for his work. food and blankets.
campaign for reform and successfully ordered the construction
secured funds to establish a state
asylum. She then spread the message of a new hospital for
to other states, establishing six more the mentally ill after
asylums by 1845, before eventually
setting her sights on the US government. hearing her
Even though her proposal for a national report
fund for mental health care was vetoed by the
president, she continued campaigning at home
and abroad until she died.
THOMAS MOTT OSBORNE
AMERICAN, 1859-1926
As chairman of the New York State Commission
on Prison Reform, Thomas Mott Osborne decided
the best way to learn about the condition of prisons
was to experience one first-hand. Using the fake
name Tom Brown, he spent a week living as inmate
‘33,333X’ in Auburn Prison, and wrote about the
Osborne was so
harrowing experience he and the other prisoners passionate about
faced. His time there inspired him to turn America’s prison standards
prisons from “human scrap heaps into human repair that he put himself
undercover to get
shops” and so he established the Mutual Welfare first-hand experience
League and the National Society of Penal Information
Jebb’s prison designs became the of the conditions
to help reform prisoners into respectable citizens.
blueprint for future construction © Alamy
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