Mr.J. V. Lawrence. 1 September, 1846. Yes. Lord Seymour. But, I understand, you showed them to the Governor ?— Was it usually your habit to show them to the Governor before the punishment was to be inflicted?-No, I had nothing to do with them. Chairman. Then why did you do so?-Because the Governor required to see them. I took them to him at the Governor's request; they were taken to the Governor in the inner office. You do not state that in this statement, you state "The Governor desired me to make the usual arrangements, and after examining the old cats ordered new ones ?"—I think I stated before, that I took them to the Governor to see them, if you refer to my evidence before. Mr. Perry. Did not I understand you to say, that you called the Governor's attention to the cats, that new cats were necessary, in your evidence before us? -I think not. I had nothing to do with them. It was not any part of my province at all. Chairman. Do you recollect from your own observation, what state the cats were in ?—They certainly were worn out; they had been used several times before. And were worn out?-And were worn out. Lord Seymour. Where did you take the cats from when you showed them to the Governor ?-To the best of my recollection, I took them from the cupboard in the Governor's office, the outer office; it is some six months ago, but that is to the best of my recollection. Is that the cupboard in the office where the clerks are ?—It is. [The witness withdrew.] Adjourned sine die. REPORTS RELATING TO PARKHURST PRISON, 1 8 4 7. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. 1847. CONTENTS. Page I. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR GEORGE GREY, BART., SECRETARY SIR, Parkhurst Prison, 1st January, 1847. THE eighth year of the existence of Parkhurst as a Prison having expired, I have the honour to report to you the occurrences of 1846, as the Regulations direct. I. Conduct of Subordinate Officers. The subordinate officers of the various classes have conducted themselves with Conduct of Subrespectability, diligence, and punctual attention to their respective duties. It has ordinate Officers. been necessary to discharge one only on account of misconduct. II. Number of Prisoners. At the commencement of 1846 there were 648 boys in the prison. During the Number of Pricourse of the year 102 were received from Millbank Prison, under the following soners. 130 prisoners were discharged in 1846, under various circumstances, as described below: Treatment and The inmates of the prison on the 31st December were therefore 520 in number. Of these, 90 had been selected on account of good conduct for embarkation in the ship "Thomas Arbuthnot," to be sent as exiles to Port Philip, but the arrangements for their removal were not quite completed before the expiration of the year. III. Treatment and Condition of the Prisoners. The course of treatment pursued during 1846 was the same as that established in former years. The diet, clothing, lodging, and routine of daily occupations, have undergone no change in.the past twelve months. All the trades pursued here in 1845 were actively kept up during 1846, with the addition of baking, which was introduced on the 1st of April, since which date all the bread required by the prisoners, and also the warders' rations, have been made on the premises, with great advantage to the public service. The prisoners are employed seven hours and a half at their trades on each of three days of the week; on the three alternate days they are five hours and a half in school, and two hours at agricultural labour. On Sundays they are two hours and a half in school, and three hours and a half in chapel. Their condition, physically, is very good; almost all wear the appearance of robust health. Many who are natives of the large towns came to Parkhurst with sallow complexion and somewhat sickly aspect, but most of these gained, after a short stay here, the ruddy hue of sound health. The attention paid to personal cleanliness and ventilation of all apartments occupied by the prisoners, aided by nutritious diet and frequent change of occupation, gives the inmates of this prison every advantage for the improvement and maintenance of bodily health. I believe that the moral condition of the great majority is also undergoing continual improvement; and, though the degrees of progress in this respect may be scarcely perceptible to those whose attention is uninterruptedly directed, day after day, to the observation of their conduct, the amount of improvement, after a lapse of some months, is, in a multitude of instances, considerable. The prison offences reported and punished during 1846 amounted to only three-fifths of the number recorded in 1845, though the average number of boys in the prison exceeded that of the former year by 25, and of this diminished number two-fifths occurred during the three months from July to September under the influence of peculiarly exciting circumstances. The following statement will afford a satisfactory proof that there has been an improvement in moral conduct : It is observable that a very large majority of the prison offences are committed by boys in the first year of their confinement here, a much smaller number in the second year, and very few in the third. Even among the prisoners who have been but little more than twelve months at Parkhurst, there are many boys who, at the commencement of 1846, were unsteady and troublesome, but during the latter months orderly and regular. The desire to "get their liberty" by removal to the colonies for good conduct has a very strong influence over the prisoners here; and when a boy thinks the time is approaching when it may perhaps come to his turn to be selected for emigration, he evidently becomes doubly watchful over his conduct, to guard against giving occasion for an unfavourable report which might prevent the realisation of his anxious wish. Still it appears to me that it would be of advantage to introduce some distinguishing mark or privilege which might be acquired by a prisoner at an earlier period of his confinement, and which, being known as a recognition on the part of the prison authorities of good conduct so far, should operate as an |