Volume 1

[Letters on prisons].

  • Lettsom, John Coakley, 1744-1815.
Date:
[1803-1813]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Letters on prisons]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    185/240 (page 173)
    I \ j 1805.] Mr. Ncild’s Remarks prifoners were obliged to have a cat in each cell, to prevent their feet from being gnawed by vermin, was clean white-wafhed j made fecure j againh the accefs of rats; and every j improvement adopted in the con- j lirudtion of the prifon (originally j defedtivc) that it could well ad- I mit of.” ; Such obvious examples of im- jl provement in Prifons and Bridewells i muft afford plcafure to every re- i fiedting individual, among whom I I prefume to fubfcribe the name of I * J« C. Lettsom. ' P. !2P9, col. 2, 1. 8,ybr “ it might have ( been prefumed would have,” read “ might have induced.” PontefraSi Gaol. This prifon is un- der the Town-hall. The pajfage to the felons’cells is 38 feet by !2, with a fire-place at one end ^ it is lighted and ventilated by three very fmall iron- grated windows, and this is called the room for debtors. Felons have two cells, each 12 feet by 9; the windows of which are toward the flreet, and the doors open into the debtors’ room. They are very offenfive from the want of means for decent cleanlinefs j the roofs of the cells are done, arched, and lofty. Straw on the floor. Allow- ance eight pence per day. Debtors are lent here by procefs if- fuing out of the Borough Court, for any fum great or fmall, and are entitled to their fixpences on the fourth court- day. A Court is held every three i weeks. Fees 13s. 4d. Allowance, i none whatever. No firing allowed. No water. No court-yard. No chap- lain. No furgeon. The gaoler, Francis Fryer, lives at a diflance, and keeps a public-houfe; he is ferjeant at mace, and a Sheriff's-o^^\ctx. Salary one gui- nea per year. Prifoners, l6ih Augnll 1802; felons, none; debtor, one. He was a fhoe-maker, and the debt of his fon’s contraefing, for vvhom he had been fecurity ; his cafe was mucli com- miferaterl in the town ; he had con- flant employ, and the Corporation had humanely allowed him to work in one corner of the Town-hall, the flone- paflage below being too dark ; without this indulgence he mull have been in a miferabk ftate, efpecially if the gaoler had been from home on a caption^ or •thcr bulinefs, and forgot him, as he OH Prifons in Yorkfli'ire. 397 could neither fee nor be feen by any perfon for relief. Rothwell Prifon, for debtors, be- . longs to the liberty of the honour of Fontefraft, in the duchy-couvt of Lan- cafter. Gaoler, William Carrett;; fa- lary, none. Hq pays a rent of 181. pci year to a Mr. Wilfon. Fees on commitment, gs. 4d.; on difeharge, 18s. 4d. Garnifh 63. 2d. which is fpent in liquor. Chaplain, none. Al- lowance, none whatever. One court, 30 yards by 14, for both fexes; it has a mud floor, with a pump and fewer in it. The common fide, or poor debtors, have feven rooms, five of which are up- flairs, and two below; to thefe the gaoler furnifhes beds and bedding, for which each pays 10 d. f per week; they have a day-room about 5 yards fquare. Mafler’s fide debtors have a day-room about 6 yards fqoarc, and fix rooms up-fiairs; the beds and bedding fur- niflied by the keeper, each prifoner paying Is. 2d. per week. All are al- lowed to work, if they can procure it; but only four were employed when I was there. One room up-ftairs for women, with two beds in it. At the top of the houfe is a work-room with fpinning-wheels for woollen-cloth. I was pleafed with the manner in which the prifoners fpoke of the keeper; he was not prefent. The average number in confinement here is 3b. On my vi- fit, Auguft l6, 1802, thirty ; December 20,1802, forty-nine ; January 18, 1804, thirty. No firing allowed. Theyufually atChriftmas petition the Society for Re- lief of fmall Debts in London, for coals, which are fold at Rothwell for 15 s. a three horfe cart-load. Leeds Town Gaol. Four rooms, 12 feet by Q, and a fmall one with double iron-bar grated windows fronting the fireet. Barrack-beds. The conftable is the keeper, and lives diftant; falary 5l. 5s, Prifbners, Auguft 17, 1802, three. SL Peier^s Gaol, for the liberty of St. Peter, of York, near the Minller- gate, is the property of the Dean. Mr. Howard mentions an old printed lift of pariflies, towns, and parts of town, w'hich are in the liberty of St. Peter ^ viz. within the city and county, nine places ; in the Eaft-Riding, fixty-iwo ; Weft-Riding, forty ; North-Riding, fif- tv-one ; and there is one place in each of the following counties : Devonfhire, Gloucefterlhire, Lancafhire, Lincoln- fliire, Northumberland, and Hamp- fliire ;