Howard League for Penal Reform.

The League was formed by the Howard Association in 1866. It adopted its current title in 1921 following amalgamation with the Penal Reform League. The League exists to work for an improvement in prison conditions, mainly as a specialised library and information service for other parties interested in penal reform. The National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty was established in 1925; in 1948 it merged with the Howard League for Penal Reform. The Council's papers were deposited along with those of the League. The League papers include those of Thomas Barwick Lloyd-Baker (1807-1886). Baker was a writer on penal conditions, and founded the Hardwicke Reformatory school in 1852.

Reference: Chris Cook and David Waller, The Longman Guide to Sources in Contemporary British History 1 : Organisations and Societies (Longman, 1994). Dictionary of National Biography (CD-ROM)(Oxford). Christoph, James Bernard, Capital Punishment and British Politics: the British movement to abolish the death penalty 1945-57 (London, 1962).

From the guide to the Howard League for Penal Reform, 1885-1977, (Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Library)