The Criminal Prisons of London
And Scenes of Prison Life

Henry Mayhew's 1862 study of prisons is a comprehensive guide to criminal activity and penal institutions in nineteenth-century London.

Henry Mayhew (Author), John Binny (Author)

9781108036986, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 December 2011

738 pages, 93 b/w illus. 4 maps
23.4 x 15.8 x 3.7 cm, 1.02 kg

Henry Mayhew (1812–87), social reformer and journalist, is well known for his classic work of research on the London poor (also reissued in this series) and as one of the co-founders of Punch magazine in 1841. While working as the metropolitan correspondent for the London Morning Chronicle, Mayhew initiated several investigations into London's poor and the state of the city's prisons. Sourcing his information from guards and from prisoners themselves, Mayhew's monumental study of London criminal life (co-written with John Binny and published in 1862) includes analyses of crime areas, crime classifications and the state of the different prisons connected to them, observations on juvenile delinquents, and methods of discipline and control of prisoners. The book also provides detailed police and criminal statistics. His survey ultimately concluded that all of London's prisons were lacking in basic human necessities and were greatly in need of reform.

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Introduction: London considered as a great world
A balloon view of London
Some idea of the size and population of London
London from Different Points of View: The entry into London by rail
The Port of London
London from the top of St. Paul's
The Contrasts of London: Of the riches and poverty of London
The charity and crime of London
Of the London streets, their traffic, names, and character
Professional London
Legal London
The Administration of the Criminal Law: The criminal prisons and prison population of London
The London convict prisons and the convict population
Of prison discipline
The Convict Prisons of London: Pentonville Prison
The female convict prison at Brixton
The hulks at Woolwich
Millbank Prison - the convict depot
The Correctional Prisons of London: The Middlesex House of Correction, Coldbath Fields
The Middlesex House of Correction, Tothill Fields
The Surrey House of Correction, Wandsworth
The City House of Correction, Holloway
The Detentional Prisons of London: Newgate Jail
The House of Correction, Clerkenwell
Horsemonger Lane Jail.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB]