THERE WERE NO NATIONAL PRISONS IN ENGLAND IN 1773. RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL, CIVIL, AND CRIMINAL OFFENDERS WERE SENT TO THE AMERICAN COLONIES. WITH THE CONCENTRATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL PROLETARIAT IN ENGLAND AND WITH THE LOSS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES, THE PROBLEM OF CRIME BECAME OF INCREASING CONCERN TO THE ENGLISH. BETWEEN 1760 AND 1830 THEY DRASTICALLY REVISED THE CRIMINAL CODE, ESTABLISHED MUNICIPAL POLICE FORCES, EXPERIMENTED WITH CONFINEMENT IN PRISON SHIPS, AND ESTABLISHED A LARGE-SCALE PENAL COLONY. PRISON REFORM TOOK ITS PLACE AMONG THESE CHANGES. IN 1773, JOHN HOWARD BEGAN TO INSPECT ENGLISH PRISONS AND REPORT ON THE EVILS BE FOUND. PARLIAMENT LISTENED TO HOWARD AND FOR 10 YEARS CONSIDERED A PLAN TO REFORM CRIMINALS WITH RELIGION AND WORK IN TWO MODEL PENITENTIARIES. WITHIN TWO GENERATIONS OF HOWARD'S FIRST PRISON VISIT, NEARLY EVERY ENGLISH COUNTY BUILT A NEW COMMON JAIL AND HOUSE OF CORRECTION, FOLLOWING SOME OF HOWARD'S IDEAS FOR PRISON DISCIPLINE. OTHER REFORMERS TOOK UP HOWARD'S WORK, A HOSTILE REACTION TO THE NEW MODEL PRISONS CAME AND WENT, AND PARLIAMENT, AFTER A LONG INTERVAL OF INACTION, REVIEWED ITS INTEREST IN PENAL QUESTIONS IN 1810. IN 1816, THE FIRST NATIONAL PENITENTIARY OPENED, AND THE FIRST SOCIETY SPECIFICALLY ORGANIZED FOR PRISON REFORM BEGAN ITS WORK. ALTHOUGH MANY CONDITIONS REMAINED TO BE CORRECTED BY THE SOCIETY, THE PERIOD FROM 1773 TO 1816 WAS AN AGE OF FOUNDATION BUILDING, DURING WHICH IDEAS OF PRISON DESIGN, DISCIPLINE AND CONTROL THAT WERE TO ENDURE, WITH MODIFICATIONS, INTO THE 20TH CENTURY WERE INTRODUCED. THE METHODS OF THE AGE'S REFORMS HAVE GUIDED THEIR SUCCESSORS EVER SINCE. A 17-PAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY IS INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--LKM)