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Penal Treadmill
A penal treadmill (penal treadwheel or everlasting staircase) was a treadwheel or treadmill with steps set into two cast iron wheels. These drove a shaft that could be used to mill corn, pump water, or connect to a large fan for resistance. Penal treadmills were used in prisons during the 19th century in both Britain and the United States. In early Victorian Britain the treadmill was used as a method of exerting hard labour, a form of punishment prescribed in the prisoner's sentence. History The prison treadwheel was introduced in 1818 by the British engineer Sir William Cubitt (1785–1861) as a means of usefully occupying convicts in the prisons at Bury St Edmunds and Brixton. There had been simple two-person treadmills in prisons before, used for raising water and grain preparation; these were on a large scale and for a different purpose. Cubitt observed prisoners lying around in idleness and opined that it was better for "reforming offenders by teaching them habits of in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treadmill At Brixton Prison In London (cropped)
A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type of mill operated by a person or animal treading the steps of a treadwheel to grind grain. In later times, treadmills were used as punishment devices for people sentenced to hard labour in prisons. The terms ''treadmill'' and ''treadwheel'' were used interchangeably for the power and punishment mechanisms. More recently, treadmills have instead been used as exercise machines for running or walking in one place. Rather than the user powering a mill, the device provides a moving platform with a wide conveyor belt driven by an electric motor or a flywheel. The belt moves to the rear, requiring the user to walk or run at a speed matching the belt. The rate at which the belt moves is the rate of walking or running. Thus, the speed of running may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crank Machine
The crank machine was a penal labour device used in England in the 19th century. It consisted of a hand-turned Crank (mechanism), crank which forced four large cups or ladles through sand inside a drum, doing nothing useful. The prisoner would typically be forced to do 6,000–14,400 revolutions over the period of six hours per day (1.5–3.6 seconds per revolution). The prison warden could make the task harder by tightening an adjusting screw. In 1895, there were 29 crank machines in use, but by 1901 there were only 5. See also * Penal treadmill References Bibliography * * * Penal labour {{prison-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scandal At High Chimneys
''Scandal at High Chimneys: A Victorian Melodrama'' is a historical mystery novel by John Dickson Carr. It was published in the US and Canada by Harper & Row in August 1959. The story is set in London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ..., 1865, and concerns a house called High Chimneys, where secrets are hidden among the household members. Plot introduction Clive Strickland, lawyer and author, was to discover a bewildering and terrifying slice of Victorian life when his friend Victor Damon asked him to visit the family estate. The Damon family home, a vast and formidable mansion, plays host to a multitude of characters. Strange things happen at the Damons': a ghost-like figure threatens; Matthew Damon gets murdered under impossible circumstances, and it takes the br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwrights in London in the early 1890s. Regarded by most commentators as the greatest playwright of the Victorian era, Wilde is best known for his 1890 Gothic fiction, Gothic philosophical fiction ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'', as well as his numerous epigrams and plays, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts. Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Literae Humaniores#Greats, Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilde (film)
''Wilde'' is a 1997 British biographical romantic drama film directed by Brian Gilbert. The screenplay, written by Julian Mitchell, is based on Richard Ellmann's 1987 biography of Oscar Wilde. It stars Stephen Fry in the title role, with Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, Jennifer Ehle, Gemma Jones, Judy Parfitt, Michael Sheen, Zoë Wanamaker, and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles. The film premiered at the 54th Venice International Film Festival on 1 September 1997, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 17 October 1997, by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment. It was praised for the performances of the cast, particularly that of Fry, who received critical acclaim and a Best Actor nomination at the 56th Golden Globe Awards. Ehle and Wanamaker were both nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 51st British Academy Film Awards. Plot In 1882, during his lecture tour of the United States, Oscar Wilde visits Leadville, Colorado. Despite his flamboyant pers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bleak House
''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and partly by an omniscient narrator. At the centre of ''Bleak House'' is a long-running legal case in the Court of Chancery, ''Jarndyce and Jarndyce'', which comes about because a testator has written several conflicting wills. In a preface to the 1853 first edition, Dickens said there were many actual precedents for his fictional case. One such was probably ''Thellusson v Woodford'', in which a will read in 1797 was contested and not determined until 1859. Though many in the legal profession criticised Dickens's satire as exaggerated, ''Bleak House'' helped support a judicial reform movement that culminated in the enactment of Judicature Acts, legal reform in the 1870s. Some scholars debate when ''Ble ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. In the process, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man. Dickens wrote ''A Christmas Carol'' during a period when the British were exploring and re-evaluating past Christmas traditions, including carols, and newer customs such as cards and Christmas trees. He was influenced by the experiences of his own youth and by the Christmas stories of other authors, including Washington Irving and Douglas Jerrold. Dickens had written three Christmas stories prior to the novella, and was inspired following a visit to the Field Lane Ragged School, one of sev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and were commercially successful in that period, with four Top 40 albums and two hit singles: " Gaudete" and " All Around My Hat". Steeleye Span have seen many personnel changes, with Maddy Prior being the only remaining original member of the band. Their musical repertoire consists of mostly traditional songs with one or two instrumental tracks of jigs and/or reels added; the traditional songs often include some of the Child Ballads. In their later albums there has been an increased tendency to include music written by the band members, but they have never moved completely away from traditional music, which draws upon pan-British traditions. History Early years Steeleye Span began in late 1969, when London-born bass player Ashley Hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Storm Force Ten
''Storm Force Ten'' is the tenth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span, released in 1977 by Chrysalis Records. Until their 2013 album ''Wintersmith'', released 36 years after ''Storm Force Ten'', this album was the band's last production to reach the charts, topping out at 191 on Billboard's Pop charts. After '' Rocket Cottage'', Bob Johnson and Peter Knight left the band. As there was still a contractual obligation, they invited Martin Carthy back again. Back in 1971 when Martin Carthy had joined he had recommended John Kirkpatrick but they decided on fiddler Peter Knight instead. This time they accepted his recommendation and Kirkpatrick's fiery accordion playing replaced Knight's fiddle. John Tobler writes on the 1996 reissue of ''Storm Force Ten'': :''Steeleye's ninth original LP, ''Rocket Cottage'' was released in late 1976, and appeared only weeks before 'Anarchy in the UK', the debut single by The Sex Pistols, which may have contributed to the less t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Granby, Connecticut
East Granby is a New England town, town in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,214 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Original inhabitants of the current East Granby area were Native American peoples, including the Algonquin people, Algonquin/Poquonock, the Massaco, and the Agawam tribe, Agawam. The East Granby area was first settled by Europeans in 1664, which was one of the four Congregational parishes in Simsbury. The Turkey Hills Ecclesiastical Society in 1786 became a section of Granby, and in 1858 was incorporated as the Town of East Granby. The first incorporated copper mine in America resided in what is now East Granby. The mine later became Old Newgate Prison, a Revolutionary War jail and the first state prison in the United States (1790). Farming was the mainstay of the town for much of its history. The early twentieth century saw local farmers specializing in dairy product and tobacco. East Granby experie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Newgate Prison
Old New-Gate Prison is a former prison and mine site on New-Gate Road in East Granby, Connecticut. It is now operated by the state of Connecticut as the Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine Archaeological Preserve. Previously closed for restoration since 2009, it was re-opened on July 14, 2018. The site includes a colonial-era copper mine, which visitors are able to explore through a guided tour, and the remains of the state's first official prison, which was used between 1776 and 1782 to house prisoners of war from the American Revolutionary War. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972. Early history State records indicate that copper was discovered on the west side of Talcott Mountain, then part of Simsbury, in 1705. The construction of a mine began in 1707. The mine was created by digging a vertical shaft and tunneling horizontally, with additional vertical shafts dug for ventilation. The Woodbridge Company In 1709, three clergymen, John Woodbridge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive with a respective county. The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the United States by both population and urban area. New York is a global center of finance and commerce, culture, technology, entertainment and media, academics, and scientific output, the arts and fashion, and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations, international diplomacy. With an estimated population in 2024 of 8,478,072 distributed over , the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
