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A Commissioner calls: Alexander Paterson and colonial Burma's prisons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2007

Ian Brown
Ian Brown*
Affiliation:
Ian Brown is Professor of the Economic History of South East Asia at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.
*
Correspondence in connection with this paper should be addressed to ib@soas.ac.uk.
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Abstract

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In 1925, Alexander Paterson, a Commissioner for Prisons in England and Wales, arrived in Rangoon to advise the local government on gaol conditions in Burma. This paper explores why the Burma prison administration invited Paterson, examines his findings and proposals – that included the suggestion that no convict should spend more than two years in gaol – and considers the fate of his recommendations. Paterson's visit and views are set in the social and political contexts of British rule in Burma at that time.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , June 2007 , pp. 293 - 308
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 2007