Oscar Wilde died on November 30, 1900, at the age of 46. He spent the last three years of his life living in exile in France, where he composed his last work The Ballad of Reading Gaol, about an execution that took place while he was imprisoned there. Wilde’s health suffered in prison and continued to decline after his release. Wilde was later transferred to London’s Reading Gaol, where he remained until his release in 1897. Prisoners spent hours untwisting and teasing apart recycled ropes to obtain the fibers used in making oakum. > Read more about the campaign and the government’s latest announcement. Oakum was a substance used to seal gaps in shipbuilding. Under Section 45 of the Bill, there are plans to expand the law in England and Wales to ensure that sport coaches and faith leaders will not be able to engage in sexual activity with 16- and 17-year-olds in their care. He spent the first several months at London’s Pentonville Prison, where he was put to work picking oakum. On May 25, 1895, Oscar Wilde was taken to prison. This time, Wilde was convicted of gross indecency and received two years of hard labor, the maximum sentence allowed for the crime. The trial ended with the jury unable to reach a verdict. During the trial, Wilde was questioned extensively about “the love that dare not speak its name,” a phrase from Lord Alfred Douglas’ poem “Two Loves,” published in 1894, that many interpreted as a euphemism for homosexuality. The students, a 17-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, were each issued a juvenile summons charging them with one count of public indecency and risk of injury or impairing the morals of children.
