The cells are full of sick men, rushlights and beer and broth provide some comfort but the sound of rats scratching in dark corners does nothing to quell the sense of unease.
Bedford’s prison reform story starts with John Howard. Born in 1726, as a young man he inherited his father’s estate in Cardington and set about improving conditions. The village was divided between two landlords, the Whitbreads and Howard. Under their watch the village gained two alms-houses, a school of industry for girls which would equip them to be domestic servants and make lace, and a school for boys to teach reading, writing and arithmetic. The estate cottages were insulated against the damp subsoil and amenities usually missing from labourers’ cottages like pantries, pumps and ground flooring were provided. In return, Howard expected his tenants to be steady workers, regular in church attendance, and to stay away from alehouses.
Howard became High Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1773. He took his duties seriously, including the responsibility for prisons. He recommended that county gaolers should have a salary so that prisoners declared innocent didn’t have to be detained until they could pay the gaoler’s fees. Asked to investigate the precedent for paying a salary he visited prisons across England, Wales and Ireland, as well as France, Flanders, Holland and Germany. He discovered poor conditions and injustice were widespread. In 1777 he published The State of the Prisons In England and Wales having travelled an estimated 10,000 miles undertaking his research. The work stirred public and political consciousness.
It was recognised that the old rat infested gaol in Bedford was not up to standards, and had become overcrowded when American war held up overseas transportations, meaning that epidemics could easily spread. However, a 1786 plan to secure extra space and rebuild on a larger scale with separate accommodation for men and women, a sick bay, and cells above ground failed when the money couldn’t be raised. In 1798 a new site was identified, the prison would have a bath house, chapel and facilities for execution. Prisoners would be given employment in beating hemp, making lace and straw plait. Despite typhus outbreaks in 1816 and 1825, the physical conditions for prisoners were better.
John Howard died in 1790 after contracting typhus (also known as ‘gaol fever’) in Ukraine at the end of a second trip visiting prisons across Europe. The Howard League for Penal Reform still bears his name.
