, the indefatigable friend of the poor and unfortunate, was born at
, the indefatigable friend of the poor
and unfortunate, was born at Hackney, in 1726. His
father, who kept a carpet-warehouse in Long-lane, Smithfield, ciymg wiule he was very young, left him to the care
or' guardians, by whom he was apprenticed to Mr. Newnham, grandfather to the late alderman Newhham, a wholesale grocer in the city of London. His constitution appearing too weak for attention to trade, and his father having left him, and an only sister, in circumstances which
placed them above the necessity of pursuing it, he bought
out the remainder of his indentures before the time, and
took a tour in France and Italy. On his return, he lodgei
at the house of a Mrs Lardeau^ a widow, in Stoke- Newing.
ton, where he was so carefully attended by the lady, thai
though she was many years older than himself, he form
an attachment to her, and in 1752 made her his wife. She
Wag possessed of a small fortune, which he generously presented to her sister. She lived, however, only three yeai
after their union, and he was a sincere mourner for hei
loss. About this time he became a fellow of the royal society, and, in 1756, being desirous to view the state ol
Lisbon after the dreadful earthquakej he embarked for thai
city. In this voyage, the Hanover frigate, in which hi
sailed, was taken by a French privateer, and the inconveniences which he suffered during his subsequent confine
ment in France, are supposed to have awakened his sympathies with peculiar strength in favour of prisoners, and
to have given rise to his plans for rendering prisons less
pernicious to health. It is supposed, that after his release,
he made the tour of Italy. On his return, he fixed himself
at Brokenhurst, a retired and pleasant villa near Lymington, in the New Forest. Mr. Howard married a second
time in 1758; but this lady, a daughter of a Mr. Leeds,
of Croxton in Cambridgeshire, died in child-bed of her
only child, a son, in 1765. Either before, or soon after
the death of his second wife, he left Lymington, and purchased an estate at Cardington, near Bedford, adjoining to
that of his relation Mr. Whitbread. Here he much conciliated the poor by giving them employment, building them
cottages, and other acts of benevolence; and regularly attended the congregations of dissenters at Bedford, being
of that persuasion. His time was also a good deal occupied by the education of his only son, a task for which he
is said to have been little qualified. With all his benevolence of heart, he is asserted to have been disposed to a
rigid severity of discipline, arising probably from a very
strict sense of rectitude, but not well calculated to form a
tender mind to advantage. In 1773, he served the office
of sheriflj which, as he has said himself, “brought the distress of prisoners more immediately under his notice,
” and
led to his benevolent design of visiting the gaols and other
places of confinement throughout England, for the sake of
procuring alleviation to the miseries of the sufferers. In
1774, trusting to his interest among the sectaries at Bedford, he offered himself as a candidate for that borough,
but was not returned; and endeavouring to gain his seat
by petition, was unsuccessful. He was, however, in the
same year, examined before the House of Commons, on
the subject of the prisons, and received the thanks of the
house for his attention to them. Thus encouraged, he
completed his inspection of the British prisons, and extended his views even to foreign countries. He travelled
with this design, three times tnrough France, four through
Germany, five through Holland, twice through Italy, once
in Spain and Portugal, and once also through the northern
states, and Turkey. These excursions were taken between
1775 and 1787. In the mean time, his sister died, and
left him a considerable property, which he regarded as
the gift of Providence to promote his humane designs, and
applied accordingly. He published also in 1777, “The
State of the Prisons in England and Wales, with preliminary Observations, and an Account of some Foreign Prisons,
” dedicated, to the House of Commons, in 4to. In
Have I
not one friend in England,
” he said, when he first heard
of the design, “that would put a stop to such a proceeding?
” In 1789, he published “An Account of the principal Lazarettos in Europe, with various Papers relative to
the Plague, together with further Observations on some
foreign Prisoas and Hospitals; and additional remarks on
the present state of those in Great Britain and Ireland.
”
He had published also, in I am not insensible,
” says he, “<>f the dangers that must attend such
a journey. Trusting, however, in the protection of that
kind Providence which has hitherto preserved me, I calmly
and cheerfully commit myself to the disposal of unerring
wisdom. Should it please God to cut off my life in the
prosecution of this design, let not my conduct be uncandidly imputed to rashness or enthusiasm, but to a serious,
deliberate conviction, tnat I am pursuing the path of duty;
and to a sincere desire of being made an instrument of
more extensive usefulness to my fellow-creatures, than
couid be expected in the narrower circle of a retired life.
”
He did actually fall a sacrifice to this design; for in visiting
a sick patient at Cherson, who had a malignant epidemic
fever, he caught the distemper, and died, Jan, 20, 1790.
An honour was now paid to him, which we believe is without a precedent: his death was announced in the London
Gazette.