Who Was John Howard?

John Howard was an Englishman who was born in 1726. In 1756, hearing that an earthquake had destroyed parts of Portugal, John Howard sailed on a merchant ship to offer assistance. It was the beginning of the Seven Years’ War between England and France, however, and on the voyage to Lisbon, French pirates overtook the vessel and made prisoners of the passengers and crew. They were thrown into the bowels of the ship, without food or water, and once in Portugal, were kept in inhumane conditions in a dungeon prison.   Along with the other passengers, John Howard was kept below deck with no food or water for 48 hours. The prisoners were then taken to Brest, France where they were thrown into a communal dungeon. Upon his return home John Howard immediately went to the ‘Commissioner of Sick and Wounded Seamen’ and succeeded in getting action on behalf of English seamen. He later stated that if it weren’t for the suffering he endured as a prisoner of war, he would never have spent the rest of his days trying to improve the miserable fate of prisoners in British and European jails. 

He spent the next 17 years attempting to reform the prison systems of England and Europe. In 1773, he became High Sheriff of Bedfordshire. The original purpose of this post was to ensure the safety of the judge, but no judge had been kidnapped for 500 years. So there was little else for him to do but be present when court was in session. He discovered quickly that when a prisoner was found to be innocent, he was still taken back to the jail until he paid a goalers fee (jail wardens fee). For goaler’s, the fee was their only source of income. John Howard’s first fight for reform was to have goaler’s paid a regular salary, thereby ensuring the innocent were not detained. In 1774, two bills were passed – one immediately set free all prisoners being detained for nonpayment of fees and authorized the payment of goaler salaries by the county. The other dealt with health in prisons.

John Howard continued to investigate other jails in his county and throughout Britain and Wales. He took note of everything he saw; the stench, the filth, the starvation and the disease throughout the jails, hoping that once this information was brought before the general public, the conditions would drastically change. Prisoners during this time often lay on wet earthen floors in tiny cells without any sort of sewage system. Prisoners were kept in cells with rats and putrefying corpses, and even had to pay to have the privilege to walk unchained. More prisoners died from disease in these jails than those who were executed for their crimes.

In 1777, John Howard documented all this in his famous report, “On the State of Prisons in England and Wales”. After reading the gruesome facts and evidence, British parliament legislated against the more obvious evils of the prison system.  As well, John Howard made several trips throughout Europe to find information about prison conditions in other countries. Some countries were impressive because of their emphasis on productive work, much unlike tactics practiced in England.

Because of John Howard’s observations and constant documentation, public opinion slowly began to change. However, it was 70 years before there was any sort of significant reform.

In 1782, the University of Dublin honored John Howard with the degree Doctor of Law.

John Howard spent his last days in Central and Eastern Europe, investigating conditions in military hospitals and prisons, and helping doctors battle the plague that killed him in 1790. He is buried in Cherson (now Kherson) on the Black Sea in what is now Ukraine. A commemorative statue of John Howard stands in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

While John Howard died over 200 hundred years ago, his work is still very much alive. There are currently 52 John Howard Society branches and 10 Provincial offices across Canada, all with the aim to make improvements in the criminal justice process.  Today the Society offers programs that focus on the reduction of recidivism among people who have been in trouble with the law and the prevention of delinquent behaviour among youth who may be at risk of offending.

1816 – “The Society for the Reformation of Prison Discipline” was founded by followers of John Howard. This became “The Howard League for Prison Reform” which continues in Great Britain today.

1884 – The first “Prisoners’ Aid Society” in Canada was founded to assist prisoners discharged from the Don Jail in Toronto. It operated through WW1.

1929 – The Police Chief of Toronto, Brigadier General D.C. Draper, founded the Citizens’ Service Association to help men released from prison. In 1946, this was renamed the John Howard Society of Ontario.

Branches of the John Howard Society were founded across Ontario and in every province in Canada. 
In 1949, the John Howard Society of Niagara was formed.