Howard, John (1726?-1790), was a British prison reformer whose work led Parliament to correct many abuses. The John Howard Association, a United States prison-reform group, was named after him. A similar group in the United Kingdom is called the Howard League for Penal Reform.
Howard was probably born on Sept. 2, 1726, in London. He was apprenticed to a London grocer as a young man and inherited a fortune at the age of 25. He built model cottages for his workers but did not begin his major work until his appointment as high sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1773. In this job, shocked by what he found in prisons, he began a monumental study called The State of the Prisons in England and Wales (1777).
Howard spent his entire fortune on his work. Howard visited every prison in the country four times. He also visited prisons and plague hospitals throughout Europe, measuring rooms, inspecting kitchens, and talking with inmates. He died on Jan. 20, 1790, while touring military hospitals in Russia.
See also John Howard Association ; Prison (Early prison reform) .
