Serving of dinner in the oakum-room of the boys' prison at Tothill Fields

Book illustration showing the serving of dinner in the oakum-room of the boys' prison at Tothill Fields prison, from page 377 of 'The criminal prisons of London and scenes of prison life' by Henry Mayhew and John Binny. The authors report that oakum-picking constitutes "the greater proportion of the work, though the amount earned by the prisoners at such an occupation yields barely £1 per head per annum, whilst the cost of maintenance, clothing, etc, is more than seven times as much. There are also certain gangs put to tailoring and shoemaking, and some two or three individuals to carpentry, whilst a few are employed in gardening. In all the forms of work, however, the vital defect is, that the labour is enforced as a matter of punishment rather than as a means of educating the young prisoners in some handicraft, or, indeed, inculcating in them the love of honest exertions."