prisons
prisons. The first use of prisons in England was to detain an accused until trial or to keep a convicted criminal until execution. Under the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans, and throughout the Middle Ages, criminals were punished by fines and, for serious crime, death or mutilation. Minor criminals might also be punished in the village or manor by whipping, the stocks, or the pillory.
With the advent of the system of presentment of those suspected of serious crimes, introduced by the Assizes of Clarendon and Northampton by Henry II, it became necessary to keep suspects until the royal justices arrived to receive the presentments made by twelve men of each hundred. The first prisons were therefore the local lock-up or the castle keep. In addition the church had its own prisons, reputedly less uncomfortable than those of the secular powers.
In the sphere of civil law, each central court of common law had its prison (such as the Marshalsea for the Court of King's Bench). Imprisonment for contempt of court was and still is possible and the Court of Chancery became notorious for imprisoning those who were deemed to be in contempt. Imprisonment for debt was also common and was not abolished until late in the 19th cent.
The development of imprisonment as a penal sanction took place comparatively late in English history. Prison as we know it had a number of predecessors; convicted criminals might be locked up in gaols but this practice was not widespread. At different periods society provided workhouses, ‘Bridewells’ or houses of correction, and, in the 18th and 19th cents., the ‘hulks’ or convict ships, depicted in Dickens, used for convicts as well as for prisoners of war.
Before the 19th cent. prisons might be ‘farmed out’ to private individuals, who would charge prisoners for their accommodation and food. During the 19th cent. prison became an important penal sanction though it was not until the 1850s that it became the prevailing form of punishment, especially after the end of transportation. The condition of English prisons was deplorable; males and females could be and were crowded into cells together. Overcrowding, dirt, and low hygiene as well as a miserable diet made the prisons breeding places for disease such as typhoid—indeed an illness known as ‘gaol fever’ was common, and many inmates died in prison.
In the 18th cent. certain reformers became aware of the appalling conditions in English prisons—two of the most famous being John Howard, the great prison reformer who gave his name to the Howard League for penal reform, and Elizabeth Fry who worked for the improvement of the lot of women in prison.
In 1865 the principle was introduced of work for prisoners. In 1895 the Gladstone Committee was set up to review the prisons and reform followed. Gradually during the 20th cent. corporal punishment, penal servitude, and hard labour were abolished for prisoners and the rehabilitative aspect of prison re-emphasized, but the prison system remains an object of controversy up to the present day.
With the advent of the system of presentment of those suspected of serious crimes, introduced by the Assizes of Clarendon and Northampton by Henry II, it became necessary to keep suspects until the royal justices arrived to receive the presentments made by twelve men of each hundred. The first prisons were therefore the local lock-up or the castle keep. In addition the church had its own prisons, reputedly less uncomfortable than those of the secular powers.
In the sphere of civil law, each central court of common law had its prison (such as the Marshalsea for the Court of King's Bench). Imprisonment for contempt of court was and still is possible and the Court of Chancery became notorious for imprisoning those who were deemed to be in contempt. Imprisonment for debt was also common and was not abolished until late in the 19th cent.
The development of imprisonment as a penal sanction took place comparatively late in English history. Prison as we know it had a number of predecessors; convicted criminals might be locked up in gaols but this practice was not widespread. At different periods society provided workhouses, ‘Bridewells’ or houses of correction, and, in the 18th and 19th cents., the ‘hulks’ or convict ships, depicted in Dickens, used for convicts as well as for prisoners of war.
Before the 19th cent. prisons might be ‘farmed out’ to private individuals, who would charge prisoners for their accommodation and food. During the 19th cent. prison became an important penal sanction though it was not until the 1850s that it became the prevailing form of punishment, especially after the end of transportation. The condition of English prisons was deplorable; males and females could be and were crowded into cells together. Overcrowding, dirt, and low hygiene as well as a miserable diet made the prisons breeding places for disease such as typhoid—indeed an illness known as ‘gaol fever’ was common, and many inmates died in prison.
In the 18th cent. certain reformers became aware of the appalling conditions in English prisons—two of the most famous being John Howard, the great prison reformer who gave his name to the Howard League for penal reform, and Elizabeth Fry who worked for the improvement of the lot of women in prison.
In 1865 the principle was introduced of work for prisoners. In 1895 the Gladstone Committee was set up to review the prisons and reform followed. Gradually during the 20th cent. corporal punishment, penal servitude, and hard labour were abolished for prisoners and the rehabilitative aspect of prison re-emphasized, but the prison system remains an object of controversy up to the present day.
Maureen Mulholland
More From encyclopedia.com
NEARBY TERMS
prisons