Scottish prisons in 1819. She thought the summary of their findings was still applicable. Upon his arrival in Scotland, Frederic found the condition of most prisoners worse than expected. They had dirty straw for bedding, unglazed windows, cold, damp cells and were “herded together, young and old, good or bad, without any distinction as to their various offences, and were left to corrupt one another. No work was provided, and they passed their time in idleness, drunkenness and gambling.” Hill made various suggestions to Lord John Russell, one of the most important being that the management of all the prisons in Scotland should be placed under one directing authority. As a result of this recommendation, the Act of 1839 appointed a Board of Directors of Prisons “invested with Power to Erect and maintain proper Prisons, and regulate the Discipline and Management of all Prisons in Scotland, and for raising the necessary Funds by means of a general Assessment on Property within the several Counties and Burghs in manner hereinafter provided.” A new regime was about to begin throughout the Scottish prison system and Frederic Hill was at the heart of it. 1839 was an exciting year for him as it was then he met his future wife, Martha Cowper. She was as concerned about social reform as Frederic and took a great interest in his work as a Prison Inspector. They married in 1840 beginning, as he later recorded, “nearly fifty years of uninterrupted connubial happiness.” In 1847, after twelve years in Scotland, Frederic applied to be an inspector of English prisons. His district encompassed the whole of the north of England and North Wales. He was immediately faced with a system that had seen little in the way of reform and where several governors were unfit for their posts. Although he pressed for change he found a great resistance to his ideas and became dispirited. His brother, Rowland, asked him to accept the post of assistant secretary at the Post Office, an offer which was timely and gratefully received. He moved to Hampstead with his wife and two daughters, Constance and Ellen. Although no longer an inspector of prisons, Frederic retained an interest, connecting himself with the Law Amendment Society, the Metropolitan Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society and the Reform and Refuge Union. Frederic Hill retired from public life in 1876, though he still retained a lively interest in various