Punishing the hulks: the English prison hulks in theory and practice 1776-1857
Loading...
Citations
Altmetric:
Altmetric::
Download
Associated Records
Authors
File Licence
Editors
Date
2014
Source Title
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Melbourne Authors
Affiliation
School of Historical and Philosophical Studies
Document Type
Honours thesis
Subject Code
Citation
Access Status
Only available to University of Melbourne staff and students, login required
DOI
Access URL
Open Access URL
Open Access at PMC
Linked Resource URL
NHMRC Grant Code
ARC Grant Code
Description
© 2014 Caitlin Elizabeth O’Neil
Abstract
In response to the crisis of prison overcrowding precipitated by the American Revolution, in 1776 the British government arranged for a small number of dismasted vessels to detain convicts under sentence of transportation. These prison hulks, which had been intended as a short-term solution, grew into an establishment that would last for eighty years. Having been viewed as deplorable places by reformers since the year of their inception, it was not until 1847 that the British government officially acknowledged the negligence and mismanagement that characterised the hulks. This thesis investigates the practical factors which precluded reform of the hulk establishment, and demonstrates the way in which humanitarian rhetoric was reactivated once the hulks had transformed from functionally necessary to shamefully obsolescent.
Notes
Terms of Use
Keywords
prison hulks, hulks, transportation, penal history, penal reform, nineteenth century, eighteenth century, British history, penitentiary