Second Year; Project 1: Research & Context

What is the project?

This project consisted of a commission from The Bradford Police museum; we were enlisted to devise a piece that takes place within a courtroom based upon a real court case from the Victorian era. The case in question was that of a man named John Jackson, who was found guilty of the murder of Warder Ralph Webb in 1888.

  1. Research The Bradford Police Museum. Find 5 interesting facts.  
  1. The Bradford Police Museum used to be a functional jail, which was operational for a century, from the years of 1874-1974.
  2. A few of the jails and the courtroom are still in the same fashion that they were left in 49 years ago, dismissing repairs and minor touch-ups.
  3. There are said to be many alleged ghost sightings from former prisoners and victims of crimes committed by ex-prisoners, especially in the jail cells, one of which is said to be especially haunted.
  4. Many films and Tv shows have filmed at The Bradford Police Museum, including shows such as “Peaky Blinders” and “Emmerdale”. They have used the jail cells and the courtroom for their sets.
  5. Houdini once performed an escape trick in one of the cells, escaping through the window somehow, however no one to this day knows how he got out of the handcuffs and through the window.
  1. Research Bradford in the 1800’s & 1900’s. Compare differences in the city then to now.
    • In the year 1801, the population of Bradford had reached 6,000, shooting up incredibly fast from the previous 4,500 it had been in the late 18th century. By 1851, that population had reached 103,000. Due to the population growing so swiftly, the city had been unprepared to house so many new people, which required a large number of houses to be built immediately. This resulted in the only affordable housing available to be built rather poorly and a hazard to live in. Only the very rich lived in safe, well-constructed houses and the working class tended to live in over-crowded homes with no drains or sewers. One reason that the population had risen so quickly was immigration, specifically from Germany and Ireland, and another being the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution began in 1750 and lasted all the way until 1900, which attracted many people to the city of Bradford during those 150 years. Even outside of their homes, the people of Bradford could not escape the poor quality of life. They were overworked for anywhere from 12-18 hours, 6 days a week, and underpaid, receiving an average of about 3 shillings per week. In modern times, this would equate to about 36p a week. The factories were incredibly unsafe, the children that were put to work utilizing machines were often severely injured due to the lack of health and safety precautions, and frequently died from their injuries due to the lack of efficient or accessible healthcare. If the child workers began to succumb to their fatigue, they would be beaten as punishment. It was only in 1819 that a law was put in place to prohibit children under 9 from being allowed to work, alongside the rule that children aged 9-16 years old could only work a maximum of 12 hours. Despite this, the poor working conditions remained and were only slightly improved by 1833 when hour long work breaks, factory inspections and a ban on children working before 5:30am or after 8:30pm were introduced. The general populous of Bradford at that time, excluding the incredibly wealthy, were miserable and tended to lead short lives.

References: