Sir Alexander Henry PatersonMC, known to his friends as Alec Paterson, was a British penologist who, as Commissioner of Prisons, introduced reforms that would provide a humane regime in penal institutions and encourage rehabilitation among inmates. He was the main force behind the development of Borstals and gained an international reputation as a great prison reformer. . Paterson was born in Bowdon, near Altrincham, Cheshire. His parents were staunch Unitarians and staunch Liberals. He attended Bowdon College, the localprivate school for boys, and later studied at University College, Oxford where he obtained an honours degree in Greats. During his time at Oxford, he may have become an Anglican although he was not to be confirmed into the Church of England until 1908. Not long after he graduated, Paterson went to work with the Oxford Medical Mission, a Christian charity which dealt with underprivileged youth in Bermondsey, South London. He recounted his experiences there in his 1911 book, Across the Bridges. Later, he became the first chairman of the charity, Toc H. Paterson served in the Bermondsey Battalion of the London Regiment during World War I, enlisting as a private but reaching the rank of Captain and receiving a Military Cross. In 1922, he was appointed Commissioner of Prisons and Director of Convict Prisons, a position he held until his retirement in 1946. During his period as Commissioner of Prisons, Paterson used Wakefield Prison as a testing ground for his reforms, such as establishing a farm within the prison in which inmates could learn agricultural skills. Prisoners were also allowed to earn small sums working, attend training courses and participate in games. In his view, the security of a prison's system was very important but it should not be dehumanizing. Among his initiatives to improve the prison system, he pointed out the problem of isolating prisoners, imposing the use of prison uniforms, and not monitoring prisoners after their release. In his views, the prison system should not dehumanize: Paterson was knighted in 1947 and died shortly afterwards in London at the age of 62.
