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Teaching resource

Victorian children in trouble with the law

Before Victorian times no distinction was made between criminals of any age. Accordingly, young children could be sent to an adult prison. Use the sources in this lesson to find out how children were treated by the justice system.

Age ranges
Key stage 3 (Ages 11–14)
Key stage 4 (Ages 14–16)
About this image

Prison record of Joseph Lewis. Catalogue reference: PCOM 2/291

About this resource

Time period

  • Industrial revolution (1750–1901)

Theme

  • Crime and punishment

Enquiry question

Did the punishment fit the crime?

Sources overview

Select a source to view it in more detail.

  1. Jump to source 1: Joseph Lewis
  2. Jump to source 2: John Greening
  3. Jump to source 3: Transportation to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)

Investigate the sources

  1. Source 1: Joseph Lewis

    Read through this document to make sure you understand what it is telling you.

    1. An official document with handwritten annotations. In the corner is a photograph of a young boy with a prisoner number written on a board, hanging around his neck. He stares into the camera.

      Name No – Joseph Lewis 5248

      and Aliases.

      Description

      Age (on discharge): 11

      Height: 4ft 6 3/4

      Hair: Lt Brown

      Eyes: Dk Grey

      Complexion: Fresh

      Where Born: England

      Married or Single: Single

      Trade or occupation: None

      Distinguishing marks: Pockmarked Scar rght wrist

      Address at time of apprehension: 32 Princess St Rotherhithe

      Place and date of conviction: Greenwich 10 April 73

      Offence for which convicted: Simple Larceny for st[ealin]g 28lb of Iron = 3/-

      Sentence: 1 Cal[endar] Mo[nth] H[ard] L[abour]

      Date to be liberated: 9 May 1873

      Intended residence after liberation: Same Previous

      Convictions:

      Summary

      By Jury

      Remarks antecedents &c

      Prison record of Joseph Lewis. Catalogue reference: PCOM 2/291

      Image details for "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 1a: Joseph Lewis" | Download image: "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 1a: Joseph Lewis"

    2. a photograph of a young boy with a prisoner number written on a board, hanging around his neck. He stares into the camera.

      Joseph Lewis's prison photograph.

      Image details for "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 1b: Joseph Lewis" | Download image: "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 1b: Joseph Lewis"

    Investigate the source

    • How old was Joseph?
    • What offence had he committed?
    • What was his sentence?
    • Why do you think a photograph and description of this boy was included in his record?
    • Why do you think he committed this crime?

  2. Source 2: John Greening

    Read through this document and compare it with the one shown in Source 1.

    1. An official document with handwritten annotations. In the corner is a photograph of a young boy with a prison number written on a board around his neck. He sits with his hands on his knees looks sullenly into the camera.

      Name No – John Greening 5997

      and Aliases

      Description:

      Age (on discharge): 11

      Height: 4ft 4 1/4

      Hair: Lt Brown

      Eyes: D Grey

      Complexion: Fresh

      Where Born: Mortlake

      Married or Single: Single

      Trade or occupation: None

      Distinguishing marks: Scar on forehead

      Address at time of apprehension: 1 Senior Place, Mortlake

      Place and date of conviction: Richmond 10 June 73

      Offence for which convicted: St[ealin]g a Q[uar]t[er] of Goosberries (growing)

      Sentence: 1 Cal[endar] M[on]th H[ard] L[abour] & 5 years Ref[ormitor]y

      Date to be liberated: 17 Jult 73

      Intended residence after liberation: Boleyn Castle, East Ham, Essex

      Previous Convictions: Summary 11 March 71: St[ealin]g coal J.O.A. 10 Days H[ard] L[abour] or 10/- Richmond 1

      5 Feb 73 St[ealin]g coal

      St[ealin]g coal

      2 cal[endar] mo[nth]s H[ard] L[abour] & whipped Richmond

      By Jury

      Remarks, antecedents &c

      Rab. sent 5-April 73

      Prison record for John Greening. Catalogue reference: PCOM 2/291

      Image details for "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 2a: John Greening" | Download image: "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 2a: John Greening"

    2. Photograph of a young boy with a prison number written on a board around his neck. He sits with his hands on his knees looks sullenly into the camera.

      John Greening's prison photograph.

      Image details for "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 2b: John Greening" | Download image: "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 2b: John Greening"

    Investigate the source

    • How old was John?
    • What offence had he committed?
    • What was his sentence?
    • Why do you think he committed this crime?
    • Why do you think his sentence is so harsh?
    • There are two parts to John’s sentence. What do you think the Victorians thought was the point of:
      • Sending the offender to prison?
      • Sending the offender to the Reformatory?

  3. Source 3: Transportation to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)

    Another form of Victorian punishment was transportation to a penal colony in a different country.

    1. A table of prisoner information filled in by hand. It lists the name, age, crime, dates of conviction, sentence and demographic details of the prisoners.

      List of convicts embarked on the Elphinstone for Van Diemen’s Land 1842. Catalogue reference: PC 1/2717

      Image details for "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 3: Transportation to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)" | Download image: "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 3: Transportation to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)" | Download transcript with tables for "Victorian children in trouble with the law, source 3: Transportation to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)"

    Investigate the source

    • What is the average age of these convicts who are being transported?
    • What are the crimes that most of them have been convicted of? (Hint: Larceny means theft)
    • How long is the average sentence?
    • Do you think they were allowed to come home at the end of their sentence?
    • Which of the following words do you think describes conditions at the penal colony? Why do you think that?
      • hard
      • easy
      • frightening
      • simple
      • tough
      • boring
      • interesting
    • Why do you think these children committed these crimes?

Teachers’ notes

In this lesson students explore two records, created in the 1873 taken from photographic registers of prisoners and habitual criminals. The judicial system was keen to compile photographic information of these people to assist detection. Students could also look at the Unboxing the Archive video shown in the extension activitues to see these types of records as a starter to the lesson.

This lesson could be used for any scheme of work covering a history of crime and punishment, or studying an aspect of life in Victorian Britain. Crime and the treatment of offenders is always controversial, today as in the past. The pendulum of reform and rehabilitation versus punishment has swung throughout history.

The two child records and the transportation document listing of convicts sent on the Elphinstone ship for Van Diemen’s Land (modern day Tasmania), reveal the severity of Victorian justice, and how it was largely based on retribution and the notion of deterrence.

Connections to the curriculum

Key stage 3 (Ages 11–14)

Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901

Key stage 4 (Ages 14–16)

  • Edexcel GCSE History: Crime and punishment in Britain, c1000 to present
  • OCR GCSE Schools History Project: Crime and Punishment c1250 to present

Extension activities

Discussion questions

  • Punishment of crime has a number of aims. Which of these aims were being met by these sentences on Victorian young offenders?
    • Punish the offender
    • Reform the offender so they won’t do it again
    • Deter others from committing crimes
    • Protect the public
  • What would happen to Joseph Lewis and John Greening if they committed the same crimes today?
  • What sentences would you pass on Joseph Lewis and John Greening? What are the reasons for your decision?

Activities

  • Stage a debate on the treatment of Victorian child criminals.
  • Watch our Unboxing the Archive video to discover the story of another child prisoner, Joseph Charman.

Background information

Nineteenth-century crime

Crime, and how to deal with it, was one of the great issues of Victorian Britain. In the first place there seemed to be a rising crime rate, from about 5,000 recorded crimes per year in 1800 to 20,000 per year in the 1830s. The Victorians had a firm belief in making criminals face up to their responsibilities and in punishment. Between 1842 and 1877, 90 new prisons were built in Britain.

Child crime

Child crime shocked the Victorians. Dickens’ account of Fagin’s gang of young pickpockets led by the Artful Dodger, in Oliver Twist published in 1837, played to this popular concern. In 1816, Parliament even set up a Committee for Investigating the Alarming Increase in Juvenile Crime in the Metropolis (London). But how far should ideas of punishment, of making the criminal face up to their actions by a long, tough, prison sentence, apply to children?

Juvenile Offences Act of 1847

A step towards treating children differently was the Juvenile Offences Act of 1847, which said that young people under 14 (soon raised to 16) should be tried in a special court, not an adult court. More far-reaching were the first Reformatory Schools, set up in 1854. Young people were sent to a Reformatory School for long periods – several years. The long sentences were designed to break the child away from the bad' influences' of home and environment.

Reformatories

Reformatories were as far as the government was prepared to go towards treating children differently for most of the 19th century. Attitudes began to swing towards reform in the early 20th century. From 1899 children were no longer sent to adult prisons. In 1902 an experimental school was set up at Borstal, in Kent. It was run like a boarding school, with lots of sport, staff not in uniform and a more encouraging attitude towards the children. Several more ‘Borstals’ were set up, but in 1982 there was a swing away from reform towards punishment and they were mostly turned into Young Offender Institutes.

Related education sessions

Education session

4099 is my name SEND session

Victorian photograph of a child prisoner. He looks calmly into the camera. He has a sign reading 4099 round his neck.

This immersive experience, aimed at students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), explores the story of child prisoner William Towers.

Education session

Four days’ hard labour

Mugshot of a Victorian child. He is holding a board with his name written on it - Albert Cullum

This session aimed at key stage 2 students looks at what life was like for a Victorian child criminal.

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