Maconochie at Birmingham prison, 1849-1851: Reformative rhetoric and corporal practice

Moore, John

Abstract

Both Alexander Maconochie and Birmingham prison feature prominently in the historiography of mid nineteenth-century punishment. Maconochie is portrayed as a benevolent reformer who invented the ‘mark system’; an innovative contribution to penal theory which sought to establish the primacy of reformation within state punishment. Birmingham prison was brought to national prominence less than two years after Maconochie’s departure with the death of a fifteen year old prisoner, Edward Andrews, and the subsequent Royal Commission investigation into his death and other abuses.

This paper explores Maconochie’s two year tenure at Birmingham between 1849 and 1851

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Sites of Confinement II: Problematising Prisons
• Start Date: Oct 30, 2014
• End Date: Oct 30, 2014
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 6, 2019
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: penal excess, Birmingham prison, Alexander Maconochie, penal abuses, penal reformation
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/811352
• Publisher URL: http://www.europeangroup.org/sites/default/files/SoC_2_WorkShop_0.pdf
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Sites of Confinement II: Problematising Prisons