Penal reforms 1820

• Peel believed in preventing crime and reforming criminals, rather than using prison as deterrence. He had sympathy with reformers like Elizabeth Fry.
• He reduced the number of crimes punishable by death by 100.
• He persuaded parliament to pass the 1823 Gaols Act, which said that prisoners should receive regular visits from prison chaplains, that gaolers should be paid (so they didn’t have to accept bribes), and that female prisoners should have female warders.
• However, this had a limited impact, because there were not paid inspectors. These were not introduced until the 1853 Prisons Act was introduced.