History - Crime and Punishment - 18th and 19th century - Prison reformers

18th - 19th Century:

Prison reformers

Gaols Act 1823 (By Robert Peel):

• Prisons must be healthy with fresh water supply and drainage
• Prison warders and governors should be paid and shouldn't rely on fees
• All prisoners should have proper food and no pets allowed
• Prisoners should be separated into groups to hardened criminals are not mixing with first time offenders
• Male and female separation and females have female warders
• All prisoners should attend chapel and receive religious instruction from the chaplain
• Magistrates must visit prisons in their areas and check up on them

Role of reformers:

• For the first time the Government started to build prisons and take an interest in how they were run
• Peel was influenced by John Howard and Elizabeth Fry's ideas
• as Home Secretary he had the power to put them into practice

John Howard 1726 - 1790

• Became interested in prisons while the Sheriff of Bedfordshire as he inspected the prisons there and was shocked
• Toured prisons nationally and published a report in 1777 alerting Britain and the lawmakers of the state of prisons which was detailed and…