Janet lives in the small town of Rugby, which sits just outside the border of Leicestershire and about 20 miles from the center of the City of Leicester.
Janet studies prisons, her interest in them stems from research conducted by her for a thesis. She began with Leicester prisons, incorporating both inmates and keepers.
As if the subject isn't interesting enough, Janet takes us back into the past of the prisons of Leicester, some of which today are museums. It is a subject that is extremely fascinating and one which Janet has well researched.
I asked Janet a little about her life and why she decided to tackle this particular subject. Janet states:
"I am happily married, no children, two dogs, two guinea pigs and two gerbils.
Why prisons? When I finished my degree, I was looking for a voluntary position in a museum and 'The Prison Museum" at Newbold Verdon were kind enough to take me on.
I recall discovering some documents that had been recently handed into the Record Office at Leicester, and it was because no-one had worked them, that I decided I would. This led to information 'popping out of the woodwork' all the time, and everything else was just a natural progression."
Please write to Janet and let her know that you've enjoyed her work. Share your interest and hopefully Janet will continue to share hers with us.
Janet's article today revolves around John Howard.(1726-1790) Howard published a book in 1777 entitled, "The State Of The Prisons," and here I will hand the reins over to Janet.
Leicester Prisons - by Janet Courtney
In the 1770's, John Howard began making his way around England to assess the conditions inside of prisons and houses of corrections, or as they were then known, Bridewells. One of the places that Howard visited was Leicester.
There were five prisons in Leicester that Howard visited, many more than the average town, reasons for the larger numbers date back to Medieval times. The prisons were, 'The County Gaol and Bridewell or House of Correction, the Borough and County Gaol and the Town Gaol and Bridewell.'
The food allowance in the County Gaol was a four-penny loaf of bread, (2.4 old pennies = 1 new penny) and the loaf weighed anything from 2lb 8oz - 3lbs 5oz. Whilst there were no records of allowances for the Town Gaol, the Borough and County Gaol's was set at a two-penny loaf per day.
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