Victorian Convicts

What was life like in the Victorian underworld – who were the criminals, what crimes did they commit, how did they come to a criminal career, and what happened to them after they were released from prison? Victorian Convicts, by telling the stories of a hundred criminal men and women, gives the reader an insight into their families and social background, the conditions in which they lived, their relationships and working lives, and their offenses. They reveal how these individuals were treated by the justice and penal system of 150 years ago, and how they were regarded by the wider world around them. Such a rare and authentic insight into life in and out of prison will be fascinating reading for anyone who is interested in the history of crime and criminals, in legal and prison history and in British society in the nineteenth century.


Dr Helen Johnston is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Hull. Among her publications are Punishment and Control in Historical Perspective and Prison Readings: A Critical Introduction to Prisons and Imprisonment.

Professor Barry Godfrey is Professor of Social Justice and Director of Research at Liverpool University. His many books include Policing the Factory: Theft, Private Policing and the Law in Modern England and Serious Offenders: A Historical Study of Habitual Criminals.

Dr David J. Cox is Reader in Criminal Justice History at the University of Wolverhampton and the author of ‘A Certain Share of Low Cunning’: A History of the Bow Street Runners 1792-1839 and Crime in England 1688-1815. He has also written two books in the Wharncliffe Foul Deeds series, on Shropshire and the Black Country (with Michael Pearson).