And what of the girl hauled before the original Victorian magistrates’ court, who was sent to the reformatory rather than the “lenient” option of a week in prison and a dozen with the birch? In what way would her punishment have been more severe, aside from (presumably) the length of her detention?
I picture the other girls looking at her in sympathy, despite the terror of their own impending punishments, as she was led away alone. The magistrate hadn’t pronounced a number of strokes as part of her sentence, presumably feeling it to be unnecessary – since it was well-known that every girl was stripped to receive fifty strokes in front of her fellows on the first morning of her spell in the reformatory.
From there, the regime would have been well-regimented: bible study, lessons in needlework and housekeeping, trying to prepare the girls for a decent life once they were discharged – and to keep them off the streets and out of the arms of the lecherous visiting sailors.
And, of course, it would have been unrelentingly strict. The wardens would each have carried a heavy leather strap – and used it without hesitation on a girl’s bottom or her outstretched hands for even the slightest misdemeanour. More serious offences would have led to a caning by the Superintendent – either in the privacy of his office, or occasionally in public in front of the other girls.
And then, even for the best-behaved girls, there would be a further birching on her final morning before being released. According to “The Gangs of Liverpool”, many sentences of floggings were spread over two sessions, allowing for “physical recovery, as well as a considerable period of mental torture” as the prisoner “contemplated” their second flogging. Perhaps, however, there would be some allowance for a girl’s conduct and the degree to which she had ‘reformed’: a minimum of ten strokes, perhaps, with the “fear of fifty” being used as an ever-present threat to ensure her co-operation at all times.
“But you’re honor, it’s all a dreadful mistake!” the sobbing young woman intoned. “Lucy and I aren’t delinquents, we just dressed up this way, in some old clothes we found in the trunk, so we could go down to Covent Gardens, and shop for bargains.”
“Yes,” Lucy added. “They charge us ½ as much when we dress like beggars!”
“Bargains? Like that stolen ring on your finger?” the Judge said skeptically, peering at the sobbing women over his glasses. “A five finger discount, perhaps?”
“I didn’t steal it!” she shot back. “My father, Lord Parsons, gave it to me. If you contact him…”
“I am not going to waste the Lordships time on the likes of a little scallywag like you, or your lying friend. An hour from now you will be in the reformatory, and you and your friend will plead your case side by side, with your bare bottoms raised high for 30 strokes of the prison strap.”
Lucy and Mina shuddered as the gavel BANGED down, concluding their trial and officiating there sentence. “Court is adjourned! Take these two away.”
The Judge had to adjourn early, for he didn’t want to miss the fun. He definitely wanted a front row seat to watch the bare bottom strapping of the two lovely young debutantes he had seen swanning and flirting with all the young men at the party in Lord Parson’s home only two nights before.