Cole Carrigan

Hunt: period 8
Great Expectations essay

Life in the slammer

An in-depth look at 19th century English prisons

From 1839 onwards, all physically fit criminal prisoners had to work in their cells
for up to ten hours a day. 19th century English prisons forced all inmates to do
extraneous work with no end result. Not only that, but English prisons in the 19th
century were dirty, cramped, and just plain horrible. Crimes were broad and prisons
were filled. Punishment in prisons was brutally hard work and even caused some to go
insane. The prisons themselves were dirty and far overcrowded. In attempt to combat
this, along came the large use of hulks, or prison boats. There is no doubt that a prison
is never a desirable place, but just how undesirable were these specific ones?
Crime in the 1800s in England were very broad and crime ran rampant. Many
people were extremely poor and work and food were scarce. In addition, most children
didnt receive an education. Unsurprisingly, stealing was by far the most common crime.
Not only this, but it was a crime punishable by death, as specified in the bloody code 1.
Many judges felt sympathy for criminals and instead of sentencing them to death, sent
them to prison. Many believe the bloody code was the main cause for overcrowded
prisons in England. In the early 19th century, Prisons filled rapidly and the need for
more became apparent. In attempt to combat this, prisons were often housed in old
buildings, unsuited to long term sentences, with prisoners massed together. They were
damp, insanitary and overcrowded. There was no privacy or protection from others.
Every type of criminal was held together, -men, women, children, mentally-ill(insane),
serious and petty criminals, even those awaiting trial. Later in the century a 'new model
1 Bloody code: System of laws and punishments in England between 1688 and 1815. Given the Name
due to the large number of offences punishable by death.

Cole Carrigan
Hunt: period 8
Great Expectations essay

prison' was built. Men, women and children were separated. The rules stated that
prisoners were made to wash regularly and wear a uniform. This was to keep them
clean and make it more difficult to escape. They were taught to read and write and had
their health checked regularly. They were fed a basic diet, and no longer had to rely on
their families for food or clothes. Prisoners slept, ate and worked in their cells and were
only allowed out for exercise once a day or to go to the washroom. The typical cell was
provided with a hammock, mattress, blankets, sheets, a pillow, towel, comb, spoon and
salt cup. Each cell had a stool, box and chamber pot with lid. At around the middle of
the century, many felt that prison life had become too easy. To make the stay less
comfortable, wooden beds and wooden pillows were introduced. Prisoners were
required to (try) to sleep on them for the first thirty days of their sentence.
On top of the horrid conditions of these prisons, was punishment. Punishment
was brutal for all, but the severity of the punishment corresponded to that of the crime.
Many people disagreed about whether prisons were to punish offenders or to reform
them as well. Throughout the century, different systems were tried. An example of this
was the 'separate system' where prisoners were kept in isolation. Another was the 'silent
system' in which prisoners were not allowed to talk to one another. These purpose of
these was to give prisoners with time to reflect on their actions away from the influence
of other inmates. On top of this, all prison sentences involved work or hard labor. There
were additional punishments for those caught breaking the rules and reward systems
for model, or well-behaved, prisoners.
Work was meant to punish and break the prisoners will. Therefore the tasks were
hard, monotonous and often pointless. One such form of labor was the tread wheel. The

Cole Carrigan
Hunt: period 8
Great Expectations essay

tread wheel was similar to the elongated wheel of a paddle steamer but instead of
paddles, had 24 steps. Hanging onto a strap or handrail, prisoners stood in individual
compartments over these steps. The weight of the convict caused the wheel to turn.
Prisoners had to keep climbing or fall off and it was exhausting and utterly unproductive
work. Another similar activity was the crank. The crank. The Crank consisted of a large
handle with a counter. Sand was simply churned around a drum. The crank handle was
attached to a set of cogs, which pushed a paddle through sand, and Warders could
tighten up the crank, making it harder to turn. Every turn of the crank was recorded. On
average, prisoners had to complete about 10000 turns a day. Meals depended on an
interval number of turns being performed. For example, a prisoner might need 2000 to
get breakfast, 3000 for lunch, and 3000 more for dinner. They then had to perform
another 2000 before they could go to bed. The work created nothing and it was thought
to drive some mad.
Another very interesting part of the English prison system was hulks. Hulks were
large prison ship originally meant to transport prisoners. In 1776 an Act of Parliament
allowed the use of floating prisons, hulks, for two years as a temporary solution to the
problem of overcrowded jail. 50 or more were brought into service until the middle of the
century. These ships served as temporary prisons for nearly 100 years. There is doubt
that life on the prison hulks was awful. Inmates were chained in irons, rising daily at
5am, then doing ten hours hard labor in the summer, seven in the winter, and finishing
work at 7pm. This appears in Great Expectations within the first pages. Magwitch orders
Pip to get him a file. With said file he saws through the chains on his legs. Despite the
fact that the hulks were supposed to be a solution to overcrowding for prisons on land,

Cole Carrigan
Hunt: period 8
Great Expectations essay

these ships were also very over-crowded. Prisoners slept, ate and passed time in a
below deck space. Sleeping conditions were less than ideal and lead to the spread of
diseases like typhoid fever and tuberculosis. Clothing and diet were adequate, although
at times people became concerned about the lack of fruit, vegetables and bread and the
freshness of the meat. Death rates were high. In the early years, on average, one in
four inmates died on the hulks. This later dropped to about one in every ten. Not only
were they physically unfit as prisons, but psychologically as well. Hulks had a reputation
so bad that some men preferred to be hanged rather than take their place on board.
Prisoners were almost always brought aboard suffering from depression, only to be
made worse by being put to work for hours on end.
Prison life was a large part of the life of Charles Dickens, as his father was
imprisoned for debt. Charles spent Sundays at the prison visiting his father. This no
doubt led to the use of prisons in many of Dickens works. It is my belief that dickens
made the character of Magwitch as a way to say that people in prison are still people,
not animals. And just because you have wronged in some way, doesnt mean youre any
less of a person.
It becomes clear, the more we look at it, why Magwitch and many others wanted
to escape from the hell that prisons are. Prison life is obviously always difficult, as it is
punishment, but we must know where to draw the line. Thankfully, since the 19th
century prison conditions have improved. No more do we force prisoners to work for 10
hours a day yielding no result. No more do we require inmates to sleep on wooden
beds. And no more do we have the awful hulk. Prisoners deserve to lose freedom, but
we cannot take away their humanity. It should be clear that if a man would rather be

Cole Carrigan
Hunt: period 8
Great Expectations essay

hanged than go to prison, basic human rights are being stolen. Again, prisons have a
purpose, but we must realize that the purpose is not to strip other people of their very
basic necessities.

Bibliography:
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"An Overview of Hard Labour - Victorian Crime and Punishment from E2BN." An
Overview of Hard Labour - Victorian Crime and Punishment from E2BN. N.p., n.d. Web.

12 Dec. 2014.
BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
"Http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/19th-century-prison-ships/."

The National Archives. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 12.

Birkbeck, Nikolaus Wachsmann, Dr. "Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of
Punishment in Western Society." Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of
Punishment in Western Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.