CRIME AND PUNISHMENT REVISION NOTES 4
New ways of dealing with crime in the 19th century
The end of the ‘Bloody Code’
By the start of the 19th century the ‘Bloody Code’ was not working.
Although the punishment for most crimes was death, the number of criminals actually being
hung was small. The crime rate was going up.
Reasons why the ‘Bloody Code’ was failing:
 People on juries often refused to find a person guilty if the punishment was death.
 Public executions did not scare most people: people found them entertaining.
 Crime was caused by growing population, poverty and industrialisation.
It was also a time when the authorities did not have wide support from the people.
 Most people could not vote
 Times were hard
 There were many protests against the government.
In 1823 Robert Peel reduced the number of crimes punishable by death.
In 1869 public executions were banned.
New punishments
(a) Transportation.
Convicts were sent to America and the Caribbean to work on plantations.
In 1776 America won its independence so Britain could no longer transport convicts there.
After 1776 criminals were transported to Australia by ship.
Reasons for transportation
 Prisons and prison ships (hulks) were overcrowded and diseased
 The government wanted to get rid of criminals
 They thought the idea of being sent so far away would scare people from committing
crimes
 They wanted to stop the rise in crime in the cities
 They wanted to get rid of protesters against the government
 They wanted free workers to build up Australia
 They wanted to stop enemies like France getting hold of Australia
Most transported convicts were small thieves and petty criminals.
Over 16,000 people were transported to Australia.
A prison hulk
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Transportation ended in 1868.
 Australia did not need forced workers any more.
 Criminals could be dealt with in the new improved prison system.
 Many people were against transportation, saying it was too expensive.
 Some people thought transportation did not work because it gave criminals a new better
life so it did not deter (scare) people.
 Other people thought it was too harsh and cruel a punishment for small crimes.
(b) Prison reform
Before the 19th century prison was not usually a punishment.
 It was used to hold people before they were executed or transported.
 It was also used to hold people who owed money.
 Prisons were privately run as a business.
 For poor people conditions were very bad: overcrowding, disease and violence.
 Richer people could pay for better conditions.
Thinking about prisons began to change.
Some reasons for prisons:
Retribution – to punish people for doing wrong
Deterrence – to put other people off doing crimes
Removal – to keep criminals away from everyone else
Rehabilitation – to change people for the better
Restitution – to make criminals do work to pay back to society
Newgate Prison in the
18th century.
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Prison reformers
John Howard
He was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and was shocked by conditions in the prison
He travelled round Britain and Europe looking for better ideas for running prisons.
His 1777 report on prisons called for
 Decent food
 Useful work
 Christian teaching
 Visits by doctors
Elizabeth Fry
She was a Quaker and very religious. She visited women in Newgate Prison, London.
She found women and children mixed with men and
suffering extreme violence and disease.
She set up education classes for women
She got prisoners to vote for rules to improve their conditions
Her 1825 book called for changes to prisons, especially for women
and children.
Sir Robert Peel
He was Home Secretary in the government.
He got Parliament to pass a law – The Gaols Act 1823 – to set up a proper system of prisons
run by the government.
 Useful work for prisoners so they could learn a trade
 Separate accommodation for women with female prison officers
 Proper inspections of prisons
 Uniforms
 Visits by doctors and chaplains
 Basic education
 Clean, separate cells
Many new prisons were built. The first was Pentonville in London
Howard and Fry had wanted rehabilitation and reform.
But many in the government wanted retribution and deterrence.
So the system in the new prisons was harsh:
 Strict rules and uniforms
 Pointless work: the crank, the treadwheel and picking oakum
 The Separate System and the Silent System which led many to kill themselves.
The 1820s were a time of great change in dealing with crime.
When Sir Robert Peel was Home Secretary the Bloody Code was
ended, the first police force was set up and the new prison
system was started.
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