Increasingly harsh punishments

• In the second half of the 19th century, despite the work of prison reformers, the regime at Pentonville and other prisons around the country became harsher.
• The aim of the 1865 Prisons Act was to enforce a strict, uniform regime in all prisons.
• The Assistant Director of Prisons, Sir Edmund Du Cane, declared prisoners would get ‘hard labour, hard fare and hard board’.
• Hard labour meant physically demanding work for up to 12 hours every day.
• Hard fare meant a boring and bland diet
• Hard board meant wooden board beds rather than hammocks.