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.

    230/240 (page 218)
    for the prefervation of health and the claufes againft fpirituous liquors not hunti up. The whole |)rifon very cliriv. No leliErlous aitehtiou. ^Vhen k furgeon is wanted, he is ordered by the Mayor. Piifoners, September 3, 1802, none. Northallerton BLidewelL. Thomas Shepherd keejher, falary 70I. ; fees 2s. and for removal rrl iranfporis Is. per mile. (Jhaplain, Rev. Mr. Wilkinfon ; ftlary 20!. Duly, pray- ers and (ermon on Sundays. Surgeon, Mr. Dighion ; I’alary, none ; makes a bill. Allowance yd. a day. Number of prifoueis, September 4, 1802, fix- tee n. This prifon for the Nor'h Riding is removed from Thirfi-c, and has been built about 20 years. The Sedions Houfe, under which arc the gaoler’s ajiartments, adjoins; the whole is near- ly inclofed bv a boundary wall ; the building has a (livable front, and each has a very fpacious and airy court, fo that the (exes are comp'c'e’y feparate; there is likewife fuQicient room for the growth of vegetables. At one end of the prifon \> a fmall coin- t-yard with a wafli-!ionfe and bail), rvi ii a door for men and women alternan lv. On the ground Hour tltcu; are ig ceils about 4 yaids (qnare, luo of vvhicli are fo- litary, wiih a c\In-tder in each door ; tbev are di\ided from each otb.e: by a palfage ol two yards wide, winch tias a window at one end: ai the o'ber end is a large \vork-rooui, ufedoo Son day as a olttipel, where the Roles and Orders for the go ernment of the pri- lon are coofpienoi 1 lly hong up. Tlierv* is I'kewile anoiliei- work-room 8 \aids fijuare. A Gc man-liove in the loliliy conveys warmth to tin’s part of the i'tl fon. On file upper (iorv are tuo fpa- cions rooms, one to w.ork in, and the Other, called the Bell-room, for the tnrnkev ; here the women ha\e fi\e llcepinv-cells and a work room, the fame fizc as the men’s, :ind divided by a paffage two yards wide. 'I'ltc North- Riding allows plank-l) dfeads, v.iili llraw in ticking, two lilanke's, and a co\erlit. The cells have niched roofs, but are badly veniilaicd. I found the prifitn very dean. Richmond Gaol ; for the very ex- (cnfive Liberty of Richmond and hchmondflure, formerly the property i>f Lord l]()lder7iefs, afterwards of Sir Thomas Dundas, now of the Duke of Leeds, Gaoler, Robert JVright, falary 5l.; fees, debtors 6s. 8d. and Is. to the turnkey; befldes which the Under She- riH’ demands Ss. for his liberate. Gar- nilh 2s. 4d; 1 copied the following Order from a Table of Fees hung up in the prifon ; it is dated 17th Auguft 1671, figneu W. Wylde and Ty. Lyt~ tleton : “ Every perfon or perfons that fhall be committed upon any warrant, upon his, her, or their commitmerit to gaol, fhall pay to the reft of the prifoners 2s. 4d. for their garni/h.” No chaplain, or anv religious atten- tion whatever. No furgeon. Allow- ance Is. per week to I’ucli debtors as are certihcaied as paupers. This prifon is for debtors only. There are two courts ; the outer, 29 yards by 13, is the keeper’s garden, the walls only 6 feet high, fo that only tbofe who are arreded for fmall fums, and in whom the gaoler places confi- dence, oan be indulged with the ufe of it. The inner court is £1 yards by 8, and has a well in it. Debtors have a day-room, and a large work or fileep- ing-room which opens into the court t tltis is a free ward, and for which they pay nothing, but find their own beds ; there is likewife a free ward for women in the keeper’s houfe. Mailer’s fide debtors haxegood rooms in the houl’e, to which the kec])er fornilhes bed and bedding at 2s. 6d. per week ; if the debtor finds his own bed he pays Ss. per week. The poorer clafs have beds luruiined by the keeper at Is. 6d. and all bate the ufe of the gaoler’s fire : as the county allows no firing, it is a very lortunate cncuinliance that the kee|)er is coniinidionate and humane, for his lalary is noi fufiicteut to pro\ide coals even for liis own ufe. The prifon clean. Neither the ticl for preferva- tion of health nor claufes againll fpi- rituoiis liquors hung up. Prifoners, February 13, 1802, four; September 4'th, three. Richmond Corporation or Borough gaol, 'rhomas Bedford, gaoler ; lalary .)l. ; fec>, felons Is. debtors 6s. 8(f. Allowance, debtors none. Felons 6d. a (lay. No chaplain. No furgeon. This gaol is likewife the poor-hoiife, and in a fine fuuation, having a corn- field in front. For felons there are two cells ill-ventilated, about four yards fquare, with llraw to lie upon ; each cell is lighted by a lemicircular wiiidovv', and has a fmall court attach-