Abstract: Report of Judge Botsford and Parker on the
State of Prisons, 1840
In December of 1839, a Commission was struck to examine the state of prisons. Because the
legislation which brought this Commission into existence is unknown, it is unclear what
Commissioners Parker and Botsford were referring to when they stated that they "visited the
Gaol in this place". It is possibly the prison in Saint John since the county houses of detention
were usually referred to as "gaols".
Nevertheless, there is some historically pertinent material that can be extracted from the
report of this Commission. For instance, it stated that the prison in question made only one
distinction in the incarceration of inmates, namely the sex of the offender. The Commissioners
noted that juvenile and adult prisoners were housed together; felons and those convicted of minor
offences were housed together; and those already convicted and those awaiting their trial were
housed together. The Commissioners also reported on the use of the prison for the confinement
of debtors.
The report made no significant recommendations, but it did include a description of the
conditions in which prisoners lived. It claimed that those interned did not suffer excessively
from lack of space or lack of cleanliness
h.c.
Commissioners:
W.
Botsford
R. Parker.
