ABSTRACT
Between 1840 and 1865 the tendency to close smaller prisons and transfer their prisoners to larger county institutions accelerated the replacement of the somewhat dynastic paternalist basis of prison management which had been prevalent earlier in the century by a more pyramidal formal hierarchic organisation of staff. At all levels staff ratios were high compared to present British prisons, and warders and matrons in particular were forced to work very long hours, often 14 hours a day or more. To Colonel Jebb these were clear evidence of the success of the mixed reformatory system of the convict prisons for he believed that these letters, which arrived in considerable quantities, showed a deep influence of prisoners and dedication of prison staff to convicts whose progress they followed ‘with the deepest interest’. However, Parkhurst had been designed as a reformatory prison for young men and Joshua Jebb never intended that it be regarded as a school or non-penal institution.
