The material below is taken from the web page Unless otherwise indicated, content is copyright Peter Higginbotham and may not be re-published without permission.
Ancestry UK

Debtors' Prison, Greenwich, Kent

By the early 1800s, a debtor's prison existed at Greenwich.

In 1812, James Neild reported on the establishment:

Gaoler, Robert Chantilope.
Salary, 1l. and has also Fees of office, as Beadle to the Court of Requests.

Allowance to Debtors, none.

This Prison is behind the Court of Requests, and called the Stone Kitchen, from its being flagged with stone, and on the ground-floor. It has one small room, 16 feet 6 inches in length, by 9 feet wide, with a scanty fire-place; but the chimney's smoaking renders it often useless, when Prisoners have a few coals given them, for none are allowed them by the Town.

The lower part of the Court of Requests is inhabited by the Gaoler. Women Debtors are confined in a small upper room, near the Court, of about 8 feet square, which has a fire-place, and an uncovered sewer in it.

When this Prison was first inhabited, there was no bed, bedding, nor even straw allowed; but in May 1810, I found two wooden bedsteads raised about 18 inches from the floor, in one corner, and fixed angle-wise, with loose straw to each, for one person to sleep on; but the head of one of the bedsteads is within about 18 inches of an uncovered sewer, which must be very offensive. I was told that five Prisoners have been confined here at one time, so that three must necessarily sleep upon the floor. The room cannot but be suffocatingly hot in Summer, and as piercingly cold in Winter.

A small court-yard might be made in the passage leading down to the above room, and a cistern also, filled with water for the use of the Prisoners. At present there is none supplied, but what is brought by the Gaoler, whose business on captions must frequently take him from home.

Records

Note: many repositories impose a closure period of up to 100 years for records identifying individuals. Before travelling a long distance, always check that the records you want to consult will be available.

  • No individual records identified for this establishment — any information welcome.
  • The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU. Has a wide variety of crime and prison records going back to the 1770s, including calendars of prisoners, prison registers and criminal registers.
  • Find My Past has digitized many of the National Archives' prison records, including prisoner-of-war records, plus a variety of local records including Manchester, York and Plymouth. More information.
  • Prison-related records on Ancestry UK include Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951, and local records from London, Swansea, Gloucesterhire and West Yorkshire. More information.
  • The Genealogist also has a number of National Archives' prison records. More information.

Bibliography

  • Prison Oracle - resources those involved in present-day UK prisons.
  • GOV.UK - UK Government's information on sentencing, probation and support for families.

Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.