Which punishment reformer most deserves to go on the back of a £5 note?

The Bank of England puts people of historical significance on one side of bank notes. This is to celebrate and remember our rich historical heritage.

In 2016 the design for the £5 note was changed In 2016 the design for the £5 note was changed. There was a public outcry! A significant character from the history of punishment reform was removed and replaced.

Who were they replaced with?

Who is currently on the back of our £10, £20 and £50 notes?.

Paper £10 - Charles Darwin As a young man Darwin was employed as the naturalist on board the ship HMS Beagle an illustration of which is depicted on the back of the note.  Also pictured is an illustration of Darwin's own magnifying lens and the flora and fauna that he may have come across on his travels. Paper £20 - Adam Smith Smith is one of the fathers of economics.  In one of his great works, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Smith famously used the example of workers in a pin factory to describe the benefits created by the division of labour, and, as explained on the note, "the great increase in the quantity of work that results". Paper £50 - Matthew Boulton and James Watt Boulton and Watt entered a partnership to develop and market steam engines.  Initially these were for use in the mining and textile industries before they extended the innovation to benefit a wider range of industries in the UK and worldwide

Punishments changed dramatically in the 19th century. The Bloody Code had been swept away by 1850. Transportation was used, then was ended in 1868. Prisons became the main form of punishment for the first time ever. They were totally reformed from chaotic squalid death traps to large modern institutions. Key individuals or reformers led the way and argued for many of these changes.

One of these reformers was on the back of a £5 until 2016. Your task is to work out: Who it was? Why you think they were chosen above the other reformers? Whether you think they should have been chosen?

Which punishment reformer most deserves to be on the back of a £5?

Who is on the back of an old £5?

TASK: Historians have to consider more than just a person's reputation at the time. Historians have to consider SIGNIFICANCE. Which of these 3 politicians is the odd one out and WHY? Augustus FitzRoy Winston Churchill Archibald Primrose So what makes CHURCHILL so significant that you’ve actually heard of him? Fitzroy – 1768-1770; Churchill 1940-1945 ; Primrose – 1894-95 (all Whigs apart from Churchill)

Even historians disagree about what makes something significant – pick your side! Remembered – either today or at some other point in history.   Ian Dawson , Leeds University Christine Counsell, Cambridge University Changed things at the time.   Remarkable – remarked upon at the time. Improved lots of people’s lives OR made them worse.   Resulted in change – consequences in the future . Had a long lasting effect.   Provides a really good OR bad example of how to live / behave today.   Changed people's ideas and thinking. Resonant – helps us to understand things happening today. Revealing – of some other aspect of the past. VS

Name of the reformer: My own criteria for significance Evidence 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

TASK: Work in pairs or groups of 2 for discussion. Come up with your own criteria for a significant event Read the case studies for each reformer. Use the information to fill in the three different criteria templates Be ready to say which criteria you liked most and why. WARNING: Not all of the answers are in the case studies – some criteria require your own thoughts!

Which reformer do you think most deserves to go on the back of £5? Why do you think they were the most significant?

Elizabeth Fry was the Reformer who actually appeared on the five pound note until 2016. Did she deserve this accolade or should it have gone to another reformer? Write a letter to the royal mint explaining if you think their choice was correct or that they should have chosen another reformer. Quaker philanthropist and penal reformer Elizabeth Fry - also a distant relative and "inspiration" to the Crimean War nurse - was selected to go on the five pound note and end a decade during which the only woman on our paper money was the Queen.21 May 2002

Characters featured on previous notes The Bank has featured historic figures on banknotes since 1970.  The characters depicted on previous notes have been: Charles Dickens (writer) Sir Edward Elgar (composer) Michael Faraday (scientist) Sir John Houblon (first Governor of the Bank of England) Sir Isaac Newton (scientist) Florence Nightingale (nursing) William Shakespeare (poet/playwright) George Stephenson (engineer) 1st Duke of Wellington (general/statesman) Sir Christopher Wren (architect) Who is next – you decide