Prisons, reform and the vote
How Victorians punished crime, how they began to treat children differently, and who got the vote.
Jump to: Crime | Prisons | Young offenders | The vote | The Chartists | Nightingale
Crime
The National Archives says recorded crimes rose from about 5,000 a year in 1800 to 20,000 a year in the 1830s. The National Archives: Victorian children in trouble with the law Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, published in 1837, features Fagin’s gang of young pickpockets, led by the Artful Dodger. The National Archives: Victorian children in trouble with the law
Prisons
Before the big prison-building programme, prisons were mostly small and old, and common punishments included transportation: sending people to America, Australia or Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). The National Archives: Victorian prisons The National Archives says that between 1842 and 1877, 90 new prisons were built in Britain. The National Archives: Victorian children in trouble with the law
In the 1840s “the Separate System” was tried: prisoners were kept on their own in their cells most of the time. The National Archives: Victorian prisons Walking a treadwheel or picking oakum (separating strands of rope) were the most common kinds of hard labour. The National Archives: Victorian prisons
Prisoners doing hard labour were not allowed to talk. The punishment book at Coldbath Fields prison records 11,624 offences against this rule in one year. The National Archives: Victorian prisons Many Victorian prisons are still in use today. The National Archives: Victorian prisons
Young offenders
The Juvenile Offences Act of 1847 said young people under 14 (soon raised to 16) should be tried in a special court, not an adult court. The National Archives: Victorian children in trouble with the law The first reformatory schools were set up in 1854. The National Archives: Victorian children in trouble with the law
From 1899 children were no longer sent to adult prisons. The National Archives: Victorian children in trouble with the law In 1902 an experimental school for young offenders was set up at Borstal in Kent. The National Archives: Victorian children in trouble with the law
The vote
The Great Reform Act of 1832 gave the vote to property-owning middle-class men, but many working men still could not vote. The National Archives: What was Chartism? She supported Disraeli’s reform of the franchise (who could vote) in 1867. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Victoria, widowhood
The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies was founded in 1897. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain She was against votes for women: she thought the idea of female suffrage “anathema”. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Victoria, last years
The Chartists
Chartism was a working-class movement that began in London in 1836 and was most active between 1838 and 1848. The National Archives: What was Chartism? The People’s Charter had six aims: a vote for all men over 21, a secret ballot, no property qualification to become an MP, pay for MPs, electoral districts of equal size, and elections for Parliament every year. The National Archives: What was Chartism?
The Chartists took petitions to Parliament in 1839, 1842 and 1848. Each one was rejected. The National Archives: What was Chartism? In the 1842 “Plug Plots”, workers took the plugs out of boilers to stop factory machines. The National Archives: What was Chartism?
In 1848 the Chartists held a peaceful mass rally on Kennington Common in London. The National Archives: What was Chartism? The Chartists claimed their 1848 petition had six million signatures. The National Archives: What was Chartism?
It was said to contain 1,975,496 names, and many forgeries, including “Queen Victoria” and “Mr Punch”. The National Archives: What was Chartism?
Florence Nightingale and reform
Florence Nightingale (born 12 May 1820, died 13 August 1910) was a British nurse, statistician and social reformer. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Florence Nightingale During the Crimean War she led a party of 38 women, who arrived at the Barrack Hospital in Scutari on 5 November 1854. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Florence Nightingale
Her night rounds of the wards made her famous as “the Lady with the Lamp”. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Florence Nightingale The Crimean War ended with the Treaty of Paris on 30 March 1856. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Florence Nightingale
She returned to her home in Derbyshire on 7 August 1856. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Florence Nightingale A Royal Commission based its findings on her statistics and analysis. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Florence Nightingale
The Nightingale School of Nursing at St Thomas’ Hospital in London opened in 1860. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Florence Nightingale In 1907 she became the first woman to be awarded the Order of Merit. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Florence Nightingale
Two National Archives pages give slightly different crime and prison wording: see when sources disagree.
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