John Howard

Howard, John (1726–90), English public official and noted reformer. Serving as high sheriff of Bedfordshire, Howard had access to Bedford jail, where the conditions in which prisoners were kept appalled him. His subsequent efforts led to an act of Parliament (1774) to improve sanitation in prisons and abolish the systems of discharge fees. He visited prisons throughout Britain and Europe and published The State of Prisons in England and Wales (1777), a study that inspired further reform.