18th or 19th Century oil painting of John Howard British Prison Reformer

Description: unknown artistJohn Howard Visit and Visitors oil on board, titled on verso in black l.r., circa late 18th to early-to-mid 19th Century board measures approximately: 15 3/8" W x 10 3/4" Hframe measures approximately: 19" W x 14 3/4" H Please note that shipping charges are inclusive of insurance, payment processing (if paying by check or cash, processing fee will be refunded) and carrier fees. If local pickup is selected and if applicable, payment processing fee will still be assessed and due. About John Howard John Howard (1726 –1790) was a philanthropist and early English prison reformer. John Howard was born in Hackney, in east London in 1726, the son of a partner in an upholstery business. On his father's death in 1742, he inherited considerable wealth and settled on an estate in Bedfordshire. At the age of 40, curious to see the effects of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, he set out for Spain regardless of the fact that England and France were engaged in the Seven Years War. The ship in which Howard took passage was captured by the French and he was imprisoned. It would be two months before an exchange of prisoners obtained his release. In 1773, he was appointed high sheriff of Bedfordshire and supervision of the county jail became of one his responsibilities. He was appalled by the conditions and human degradation he discovered. He took his appointment seriously and embarked on an inspection of prisons. For the next seventeen years he was committed to the task – traveling thousands of miles by horse and carriage not only throughout Great Britain but including seven trips to the continent, even to Moscow and Constantinople. Howard visited cells, dungeons and torture chambers, talked yo jailers, turnkeys and even prisoners. He was horrified to find that the malpractice in Bedford was common all over England and Wales. At a time when travel was often dangerous, he travelled nearly eighty thousand kilometers on horseback and spent some £30,000 of his own money in his determination to improve prison conditions. He entered prisons in disguise in defiance of governments who feared the power of his pen. He was once captured by pirates and held in France. Howard's concerns led to two 1774 parliamentary acts - one abolished jailers' fees, the other enforced improvements in the system leading to better prisoner health. Howard made seven large scale journeys between 1775 and 1790, the first two of which are described in his book The State of the Prisons In England and Wales. While examining Russian military hospitals, Howard contracted typhus in Kherson, Ukraine, and died there in January 1790.

Price: 3500 USD

Location: Chicago, Illinois

End Time: 2024-10-03T20:49:17.000Z

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