Throughout the first book of Great Expectations, Dickens often mentions the hulks or prison ships that convicts, such as the ones Pip met, boarded after being sentenced.
Hulks, like the ones the two convicts boarded, were large navy ships that were authorized by Parliament after prisons became too crowded because of convicts from the Victorian gold rush. Hulks were most commonly used to house prisoners, but they were sometimes used to transport convicts to different prisons. Conditions abord the ships were worse of those in prison. Many felt that harsh and unsanitary conditions could intemidate and scare prisoners. The poor hygiene resulted in the ability for diseases to spread very quickly. Commonly spread diseases like typhoid and cholera increased the death rate among inmates. Additionally, convicts were chained onto the boat and treated harshly. Convicts were also placed in solitary confinement if they committed any minor offences.
“There were confined in this floating dungeon nearly 600 men, most of them double ironed; and the reader may conceive the horrible effects arising from the continual rattling of chains, the filth and vermin naturally produced by such a crowd of miserable inhabitants, the oaths and execrations constantly heard amongst them…. On arriving on board, we were all immediately stripped and washed in two large tubs of water, then, after putting on each a suit of coarse slop clothing, we were ironed and sent below; our own clothes being taken from us” -James Hardy Vaux
Although as time went on conditions of the hulks became better, the prisoners aboard the hulks were always worse off than convicts in prisons. The Victorian government finally decided to diminish the use of the hulks after they had been in use for 82 years.
The Hulk Warrior. Digital image. Victorianlondon.org. PortCities UK, n.d. Web. 3 Jan. 2016.
Here is a video link to an interesting overview on the subject of prison ships during the Victorian era.
http://www.digitaldickens.com/content.php?id=34
Works Cited:
“Life on Prison Hulks.” Life on Prison Hulks. Deepbook Production. Web. 2 Jan. 2016.
“Prison Hulks.” Prison Hulks. State Library Victoria. Web. 2 Jan. 2016.
“Sentencing to Departure – Prison Hulks & Convict Gaols – Victorian Crime and Punishment from E2BN.”Sentencing to Departure – Prison Hulks & Convict Gaols – Victorian Crime and Punishment from E2BN. East of England Broadband Network, 2006. Web. 2 Jan. 2016.
“Prison Hulks on the River Thames.” People and Places. PortCities UK, n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2016.