Prison sentence "last month solitary"

[jane k]

I have noticed that several prison sentences are for so many months, "last month solitary".

Please could anyone explain what this means.  I`m looking particularly at records for 1830s

Many thanks

[Milliepede]

Solitary confinement?

[Pennines]

I would think 'Solitary Confinement' also - but think it's odd.

[AlanBoyd]

I had a look at newspaper items with the phrase ‘last month solitary’. There are lots of them suggesting it was quite a common element of a sentence. But I didn’t find anything discussion of the thinking behind it. What I did see however were quite a few ‘first and last months solitary’.

Perhaps the idea was to encourage convicts to reflect upon their choices before being released.

[jane k]

I had a look at newspaper items with the phrase ‘last month solitary’. There are lots of them suggesting it was quite a common element of a sentence. But I didn’t find anything discussion of the thinking behind it. What I did see however were quite a few ‘first and last months solitary’.

Perhaps the idea was to encourage convicts to reflect upon their choices before being released.

Thanks for that,  I think you are probably right.  For the case which I saw reported in a newspaper, the offender was urged to reflect upon the teachings of the priest in the prison.  I did wonder how the "solitary" element was managed but it sounds like that will remain a mystery