Middlesex House of Correction: prisoners sitting on long benches untangling bundles of twine (picking oakum); a guard raises his hand. Wood engraving. after M. Fitzgerald, 1874. "The work of picking oakum is rather painful to delicate fingers, but becomes easy after a few days. Our illustrations show this sort of work going on, and n another room the work of tailoring. The prisoners are constantly watched, and are forbidden to speak a word to each other when assembled for work or dinner; even a detected word or sign would be severely punished."--Illustrated London news

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Size: 3160px × 2252px
Photo credit: © Elixir Pictures / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: (london, clerkenwell, coldbath, corrections, fields, house, middlesex, prison, prisoners, prisons, punishment