The Intolerable Hulks: British Shipboard Confinement 1776-1857, 3rd ed.
Charles Campbell
Paperback, 5.5x8.5 in, 242 pages
Fenestra Books, September 2001
ISBN:
1587360683
Description
From the time of Queen Anne’s reign until the American Revolution, Great Britain followed the practice of transporting as many as a thousand convicts each year to Maryland and Virginia. “Out of sight, out of mind” was an apt adage for this policy. It was a policy that worked well enough until 1776, when the rebellious North American colonies declared their independence and closed their ports to reception of British prison ships. A crisis for the British criminal justice system ensued, leading to a policy of converting old merchantmen and, later, deactivated naval vessels, into floating prisons. Thus began the era of the Hulks, a “temporary expedient” that lasted for eighty years. Hardly less feared by the British criminal class than were the gallows, assignment to these deplorable dungeons at anchor became a dreaded purgatory, to be endured for months—sometimes even years—by prisoners destined for eventual transportation to Australia.
Over a span of four decades Charles Campbell was employed in virtually all phases of corrections in the United States. Publication of his meticulously researched Intolerable Hulks in 1993 provided, at last, a vivid, fully documented account of this long neglected episode in British penal history.
Reviews
“...skillfully blends history, correctional philosophy, political science, and social welfare concepts in analyzing the phenomenon [of Britain’s prison ships.]”
Dr. David R. Struckhoff, President Emeritus, The Justice Research Institute
“Campbell leaves no stone unturned in detailing every aspect of this peculiar side of the British penal system ... those with a strong interest in the history of penology will find this book essential reading.”
The American Neptune
“...straight, competent, responsible history…an excellent addition to the corrections history literature.”
Paul Keve, Author, Prisons and the American Conscience
“As one reads these pages, it is not only late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century penal history that comes alive, but also the haunting realization that the past is the present.”
From the foreword, by Dr. Esther Heffernan
