The 'Prisoners' Friend': Rethinking Everyday Philanthropy in an Early Nineteenth Century Prison

This paper interrogates the emphasis placed on discipline in Foucauldian accounts of prison philanthropy and in some feminist histories of nineteenth-century women’s philanthropic activism. It focuses on a pioneer Christian visitor, Sarah Martin (1791-1843) and her interactions with prisoners of both sexes - and their families – at Great Yarmouth Gaol, England. Though the teacher was strict and judgmental, her ministry was grounded in Christian ideals of fellowship, reciprocity and forgiveness that underpinned an extensive programme of welfare inside and outside the prison. A contemporary of Elizabeth Fry, but also a working woman living in proximity with those who sent to gaol, Sarah Martin was hailed as a model female philanthropist, whose posthumous memoir inspired prison and workhouse visitors. Drawing on her prison journals, this paper makes four speculative arguments. First, Martin’s work was driven by first-hand knowledge of the material needs of inmates, discharged prisoners and their families, not only her perception of their spiritual needs. Second, this rare surviving record of philanthropy ‘on the ground’ may provide evidence that, in day-to-day practice, many reformers may have been more nuanced and forgiving in their engagement with ‘outsiders’ than their public pronouncements could acknowledge. Third, throughout the nineteenth century, women welfare activists mounted a critique – in words and deeds – of punitive forms of incarceration. And finally, evidence of Martin’s interactions with ‘liberated prisoners’ and their subsequent lives, provides important insights for current approaches to prisoner rehabilitation and the welfare of families.