John Howard

John Howard 1726-90, English prison reformer. He had great influence in improving sanitary conditions and securing humane treatment in prisons throughout Europe. He was responsible (1774) for persuading the House of Commons to enact a set of penal reform acts.

Bibliography: See biographies by M. Southwood (1958) and D. L. Howard (1963).

Howard, John (1726–90). Prison reformer. Howard was born in London and owned a small property at Cardington (Beds.), where he spent the last 30 years of his life. He was an independent in religion, worshipping at the chapel Bunyan had served, a teetotaller, vegetarian, and a man of austere habits. In 1773 he was appointed sheriff of Bedfordshire and discovered that prisoners who had been acquitted were unable to leave gaol unless they could pay the gaoler's fee. His colleagues on the bench rejected his suggestion that the gaoler should be paid a salary, leading Howard to embark upon an extraordinary life of prison visits throughout the British Isles and ultimately most of Europe. His State of the Prisons in England and Wales (1777) exposed the squalor and brutality of many gaols. He died of typhus while on a visit to Russia and was buried there, though a statue was erected to him in St Paul's. Almost single-handedly, Howard placed the question of prison reform on the agenda.

J. A. Cannon

Howard, John (1726–90). Prison reformer. Howard was born in London and owned a small property at Cardington (Beds.). He was an independent in religion, worshipping at the chapel Bunyan had served, a teetotaller, vegetarian, and a man of austere habits. In 1773 he was appointed sheriff of Bedfordshire and discovered that prisoners who had been acquitted were unable to leave gaol unless they could pay the gaoler's fee. This led Howard to embark upon an extraordinary life of prison visits throughout the British Isles and ultimately most of Europe. His State of the Prisons in England and Wales (1777) exposed the squalor and brutality of many gaols. He died of typhus on a visit to Russia and was buried there.