Sir George Onesiphorus Paul, 2nd Baronet (1746–1820) was an English prison reformer and philanthropist.

Life

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, he was the son of Sir Onesiphorus Paul, textile manufacturer, by his first wife, Jane, daughter of Francis Blackburne of St. Nicholas,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He matriculated at

St. John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, on 8 December 1763, graduating M.A. 12 December 1766. He took the additional Christian name of George in February 1780. He spent several years travelling on the continent of Europe, living in 1767–8 at the courts of Brunswick and Vienna, and then visiting Hungary, Poland, and Italy, and returning through France. In 1780, the year of his return, he was High Sheriff of Gloucestershire. The state of Gloucestershire's county gaol and houses of correction began to attract Paul's attention. At the spring assizes held at Gloucester in 1783, as foreman of the

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

, he addressed the jurors on the subject of the prevalence of gaol fever, and suggested means of treating it, and of preventing it in the future. At a meeting summoned by the High Sheriff on 6 October, at the grand jury's request, he carried a motion that "a new gaol and certain new houses of correction" should be built; and a committee, with Paul as chairman, was appointed to carry out the work. Paul obtained a special Act of Parliament, and himself designed a county gaol at Gloucester, with a penitentiary annexed. The building was opened in 1791. It had a chapel, a dispensary, two infirmaries, and a foul-ward (for venereal disease) in the upper storey; workrooms were provided for debtors, and those who were unable to obtain work from outside were given it on application to a manufacturer, and were allowed to retain two-thirds of what they earned. At the same time five new

bridewell Bridewell Palace in London was built as a residence of King Henry VIII and was one of his homes early in his reign for eight years. Given to the City of London Corporation by his son King Edward VI for use as an orphanage and place of correc ...

s were erected in various parts of Gloucester. Another interest was in the

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five ...

society for providing free medical advice and medicine, of which Paul became president in 1783. He was active in putting down "slingeing", i.e. the embezzlement of, and fraudulent dealing in, cloth material. On 14 August 1788 George III, Queen Charlotte, and their three eldest daughters, when on their way to

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, breakfasted at Hill House with Paul, and visited Obadiah Paul's cloth manufactory at Woodchester Mill. Paul was one of the party who accompanied

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

to the

Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...

in 1810. He died on 16 December 1820. On his death the baronetcy expired, but was revived on 3 September 1821 by a new creation in favour of his cousin John Dean Paul, the father of Sir John Dean Paul the banker and fraudster.

Works

Paul wrote: *''Thoughts on the Alarming Progress of the Gaol Fever'', 1784. *''Considerations on the Defects of Prisons'', 1784, and 2nd edit. with a postscript. *''Address to the Magistrates of Gloucestershire at the Michaelmas Quarter Sessions, 1789'', considered the appointment of officers and the adoption of regulations for the government of the new prisons. Paul in the preface wrote he that the proposed regulations had been "hastily drawn up" for

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

. *''Proceedings in the Construction and Regulation of the Prisons and Houses of Correction of the County of Gloucester'', 1810.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, George Onesiphorus 1746 births 1820 deaths People from Stroud District English philanthropists English writers High Sheriffs of Gloucestershire Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain