ABSTRACT
William Crawford was an authority on delinquency, his engagement with the issue dating back to 1815 and the committee for investigating the causes of the alarming increase of delinquency in the metropolis. In his 1834 report on US penitentiaries Crawford had recommended a prison for delinquents sentenced to transportation. Lord John Russell was persuaded to establish Parkhurst prison for boys on the Isle of Wight, which opened in 1838. The prison was part of the convict system, and the regime was rigorously penal. Lord John Russell asked Crawford to examine the system of management pursued at Parkhurst boys’ prison. Crawford’s report indicates that he wanted the prison to be conducted on a penal system in order to deter.
