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Sir Evelyn John Ruggles-Brise (6 December 1857 – 18 August 1935) was a British prison administrator and reformer, and founder of the
Borstal
A Borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom, several member states of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. In India, such a detention centre is known as a Borstal school.
Borstals were run by HM Prison Service ...
system.
Biography
Ruggles-Brise was born in
Finchingfield
Finchingfield is a village in the Braintree district in north-west Essex, England, a primarily rural area. It is approximately from Thaxted, farther from the larger towns of Saffron Walden and Braintree.
Nearby villages include Great Bardfield ...
in Essex, the second son of Sir
Samuel Brise Ruggles-Brise (1825–1899) and his wife, Marianne (''née'' Bowyer-Smijth), daughter of Sir
William Bowyer-Smijth
Sir William Bowyer-Smijth, 11th Baronet, DL, JP (22 April 1814 – 20 November 1883) was an English cricketer, baronet and Conservative Party politician.
Background
Born as William Smijth, he was the oldest son of Sir Edward Bowyer-Smijth, 10t ...
. He had three brothers and seven sisters. His family have deep roots in Essex, having been based at
Spains Hall in Finchingfield since the house was bought by Samuel Ruggles, a clothier, in 1760. His father was Conservative
MP for
East Essex from 1868 to 1884. Another relation,
Sir Edward Ruggles-Brise, 1st Baronet, was MP for
Maldon
Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...
from 1922 to his death in 1942 (with a short intermission in 1923-4), and became a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
in
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
's
Silver Jubilee honours list
Crown Honours Lists are lists of honours conferred upon citizens of the Commonwealth realms. The awards are presented by or in the name of the reigning monarch, currently King Charles III, or his vice-regal representative.
New Year Honours
Ho ...
in 1935.
Ruggles-Brise was educated at home and at a private school near
Hitchin
Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842.
History
Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...
, before attending
Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
Eton may also refer to:
Places
*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England
* Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States
* Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
from 1869 to 1876 on a scholarship. His older brother, Archie, was already an
Oppidan, and President of
Pop. He read
Mods and
Greats at
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
, graduating with a first in 1880. He also played in the college cricket team.
At Oxford, Ruggles Brise knew Montague John Druitt, the man named as the prime suspect in the Jack the Ripper case by Chief Constable Melville Macnaghten in a report written for the Home Office in 1894. Ruggles Brise was also a lifelong friend of Basil Thomson who attended New College, Oxford at the same time as Montague Druitt and who succeeded Melville Macnaghten as Head of CID at Scotland Yard in 1913.
Ruggles-Brise came sixth in the civil service exam, and became a clerk in the
Home Office in 1880. He was
Principal Private Secretary
A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family.
The role exists in t ...
to four Home Secretaries,
William Harcourt,
Richard Cross,
Hugh Childers
Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (25 June 1827 – 29 January 1896) was a British Liberal statesman of the nineteenth century. He is perhaps best known for his reform efforts at the Admiralty and the War Office. Later in his career, as Chancellor ...
, and
Henry Matthews. The latter appointed him as a Commissioner of Prisons for England and Wales in 1892. The long-serving incumbent chairman of the
Prison Commission, Sir
Edmund du Cane
Sir Edmund Frederick Du Cane (23 March 1830 – 7 June 1903) was an English major-general of the Royal Engineers and prison administrator.
Early life
Born at Colchester, Essex on 23 March 1830, he was youngest child in a family of four sons and ...
, was criticised by
Gladstone Committee
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
in 1895, and resigned.
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...
appointed Ruggles-Brise in his place, and he served as chairman until 1921. His main task was implementing the report of the Gladstone Committee, to combine reform with deterrence, and to separate youths from older men in adult prisons. Reform was undertaken under the
Prison Act 1898
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...
, and physical punishments such as the
treadwheel
A treadwheel, or treadmill, is a form of engine typically powered by humans. It may resemble a water wheel in appearance, and can be worked either by a human treading paddles set into its circumference (treadmill), or by a human or animal standing ...
and the crank were abolished.
He travelled to the US in 1897 to study the American
reformatory
A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concerns ...
system, visiting
Zebulon Brockway's
Elmira Reformatory
Elmira Correctional Facility, also known as "The Hill," is a maximum security state prison located in Chemung County, New York, in the City of Elmira. It is operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Th ...
. On his return, he formed a facility for young offenders at
Bedford prison
HMP Bedford is a Category B men's prison, located in the Harpur area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
History
The prison has been on its current site since 1801 and was designed by t ...
, but the regime took its name from the prison at
Borstal
A Borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom, several member states of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. In India, such a detention centre is known as a Borstal school.
Borstals were run by HM Prison Service ...
near
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
in Kent. The experiment became widespread under the
Prevention of Crime Act 1908.
Ruggles-Brise was appointed a Companion of the
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
(CB) in 1899. He was advanced to a Knight Commander of the order (KCB) in the
1902 Coronation Honours
The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...
list published on 26 June 1902, and invested as such by King
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
at
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
on 24 October 1902.
He wrote ''The English Prison System'', published in 1921, and ''Prison Reform at Home and Abroad'', published in 1924.
A confirmed bachelor for many years, he married Jessica Philippa Stonor (née Carew), widow of
Francis Stonor, 4th Baron Camoys
Francis Robert Stonor, 4th Baron Camoys (9 December 1856 – 14 July 1897) was a British aristocrat who served as Lord-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria.
Early life
Francis Robert Stonor was born on 9 December 1856 in Oxfordshire, England. He was th ...
, on 3 September 1914. She died on 29 November 1928. He remarried on 6 June 1933, to Sheelah Maud Emily Reade, daughter of Captain the Hon. Francis Algernon James Chichester, and widow of Essex Edgeworth Reade. He died of
throat cancer
Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...
in
Peaslake
Peaslake, Hoe, and Colman's Hill are in the centre of the Surrey Hills AONB and mid-west of the Greensand Ridge about ESE of Guildford. Surrounded by denser pine and other coniferous forest-clad hills, the three conjoined settlements have a ...
in Surrey, survived by his second wife. He was buried at Finchingfield.
References
Short biography*Philip Priestley, "Brise, Sir Evelyn John Ruggles- (1857–1935)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 4 Sept 2007
External links
Photographsat the
National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruggles-Brise, Evelyn
1857 births
1935 deaths
Civil servants in the Home Office
Private secretaries in the British Civil Service
Deaths from cancer in England
Deaths from esophageal cancer
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Penologists
People from Finchingfield
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
British prison governors