Mary Carpenter

Mary Carpenter's founded the first reformatory for girls in England. Her work began at the Red Lodge in 1854, and this was the model for reform schools in other parts of the country. Mary Carpenter made a profound contribution to the development of more humane and enlightened treatment for young offenders. The liberality of her educational methods and principles stand in stark contrast to the dominant ideology and practices of her time.

Born in Exeter in 1807, the daughter of a Unitarian minister, who later became Minister of Lewins Mead, Bristol. Her approach to the care of children in trouble was radical, particularly in the context of current thinking in the mid nineteenth century.

She was taught in her father's school and went on to work as a governess on the Isle of Wight in 1827. Two years later Mary opened a small school for girls with her mother in Bristol. It is said that her direct interest in the problems and experiences of children living in poverty, came about from a time when she was out with Dr Joseph Tuckerman (the Boston philanthropist) and they saw a small ragged boy running down the street. He said that 'the boy should be followed to his home and seen after.'

Mary Carpenter began working for poor children. In 1835 she founded a Working and Visiting Society (and was its secretary for 20 years) - and after her father's death in 1840 she also took up some of his charitable work. In 1846 Mary Carpenter opened a "ragged school" in Bristol slum. 'In this she was faced with the riotous behaviour of untamed and poverty-stricken children, yet she succeeded in holding their interest by her ability and enthusiasm'.

Mary Carpenter began to focus on the needs of the more 'difficult' youngsters - and they were often also offenders. She was appalled by the way in which these young people learnt criminal behaviour at an early age.

She began to study the situation in other countries - and some of the key reform programmes that had been developed. In 1851 Mary Carpenter published her essay on reform schools: Reformatory Schools for the Children of the Perishing and Dangerous Classes and for Juvenile Offenders and called a conference in Birmingham to discuss the institutional care of young offenders. There was a lot of interest in her proposals and in 1852 she opened her own reformatory for boys at Kingswood to experiment with and publicize her ideas. Two years later she started a reform school for girls close by in Red Lodge (an Elizabethan building that had fallen into disrepair).

Her work was influential - in part affecting the writing of Youthful Offenders Act 1854 (which recognized such schools). Later her lobbying helped lead to the passing of the Industrial Schools Acts 1857, 1861, and 1866. Mary Carpenter also opened a workmen's hall and was later to publish a book on the convict system (1864).

In addition to this field of work, Mary Carpenter was well known for her interest in Indian affairs, and in the space of ten years (between 1866 and 1876) made four visits there. She was especially concerned with the education of women and the penal policy. In 1870 she founded the National India Association (1870) and pressured British governments for reform. She was an advocate of higher education for women and became convinced of the need for women to be involved in public life.

Mary Carpenter remained single, but she adopted a daughter in 1858. She died in 1877.