226 CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Cruelty and public as Well as in private, but they were heavily ironed °^^^^ and often left in gaol without clothes enough to preserve common decency. Phillip's letters describe the condition of the women put on board the transports in 1787 as dis- gusting ; they were very filthy and almost naked ; and not- withstanding his repeated requests for clothing, they were allowed to sail without it — a neglect which seems to have been quite in keeping with official practice long after the Mrs. Frj'. Sailing of the First Fleet. When Mrs. Fry began her visits to the female prisoners in Newgate in 1813, she found them all in the state described by Phillip. Even before they were lodged in gaol, they were shamefully neglected and ill-treated. Many were brought to the prison almost without clothes. If coming from a distance, as in the case of convicts lodged in New- gate until embarkation, they were almost invariably ironed, and often cruelly so. One lady saw the female prisoners from Lan- women caster Castle amve, not merely handcufled, but with heavy irons in irons. ^^ ^j^gj^ ^ggg^ which had caused swelling and inflammation. Others wore iron hoops round their legs and arms, and were chained to each other. On the journey, these poor souls could not get up or down from the coach without the whole of them being dragged together.* If this was the manner in which females were treated in 1813, it is safe to infer that they did not meet with more consideration in 1787. The women put on board the First Fleet had no doubt been dragged about the country in irons from the time they left the gaols till they were delivered on board the ships at Portsmouth. Prisoners The practice of putting prisoners of both sexes in irons, even before their trial, had been long established, although it was known to be illegal — so far at least as concerned persons awaiting trial. f The only excuse that could be
- Griffiths, vol. ii, p. 136.
+ The law will not justify jailers in fettering a prisoner unless when be is unruly, or has attempted an escape. In 1728, the iudges reprimanded the warders of the Fleet prison, and declared that a jailer could not answer the ironing of a man hefore he was found guilty of a crime. — Blackstone, Comm., book iv, c. 22. in irons. Digitized by Google
