John Howard
(1726?-1790), Prison reformerMid-Georgian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 7 portraits
Prison reformer and social campaigner. Howard himself experienced imprisonment in France in 1756. It was not until 1773 when he became High Sherriff of Bedfordshire that he initiated an important campaign to transform prison conditions. His long series of visits to prisons in Britain and most European countries led him to write his influential book The State of the Prisons, first published in 1777. A highly reserved man, Howard shunned public recognition throughout his life.
by Mather Brown
oil on canvas, feigned oval, circa 1789
NPG 97
by and published by M. Davis
line engraving, published 9 May 1787
NPG D14987
John Howard ('The triumph of benevolence')
by James Gillray, published by Robert Wilkinson
stipple and line engraving, published 21 April 1788
NPG D13059
by Edmund Scott, after Mather Brown
stipple, (1789)
NPG D36010
by Edmund Scott, after Mather Brown
stipple, (1789)
NPG D19492
by Antoine Maurin, printed by François Le Villain, after Mather Brown
lithograph, 1820s-1830s (1789)
NPG D36011
by William Daniell, after George Dance
soft-ground etching, published 1854? (1794)
NPG D12202
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