Newgate Narratives Vol 1

Gary Kelly

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781351221405
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Presents a representative body of Romantic and early Victorian crime literature. This work contains ephemeral material ranging from gallows broadsides to reports into prison conditions. It is suitable for those studying Literature, Romantic and Victorian popular culture, Dickens Studies and the History of Criminology.

from [Batty Langley], An Accurate Description of Newgate, with the Rights, Privileges, Allowances, Fees, Dues, and Customs thereof, together with a Parallel between the Master Debtors Side of the said Prison, and the several Sponging-Houses in the County of Middlesex … written for the Publick Good (London: T. Warner, 1724), pp. 1–2, 42–56.

Langley’s Accurate Description is one of the earliest detailed accounts of Newgate, as it had been rebuilt in the seventeenth century after the great fire of London of 1666. Langley (1696–1751) was born and raised at Twickenham, on the river Thames to the west of London, where many titled and wealthy people had villas, usually with extensive gardens. Langley trained for his father’s profession of gardener and published garden designs, advocating the irregular style, but in the late 1720s turned to architecture as potentially more remunerative, and moved to London to pursue commissions, at which he was not very successful. A freemason, he criticized the fashionable Palladian style as foreign and promoted the ‘Anglo-Saxon’, or Gothic style of architecture, as more English, notably in his books Ancient Masonry (1733–6) and Ancient Architecture Restored and Improved (1741–2), with engravings by his brother Thomas. He also published manuals and pattern-books for builders, opened a design academy, and also manufactured and sold garden and architectural ornaments. At the time he published his Description of Newgate his brother was a sub-turnkey in the prison. The book compares conditions for debtors in Newgate and in the various private, for-profit ‘sponging houses’ or debtors’ prisons of London, and condemns the latter with an energy that suggests Langley had personal experience of them. The extracts here describe the exterior and the parts of Newgate appropriated for felons.

PART I.

SECT. I.

NEWGATE the County Gaol of Middlesex, is situated in an Elegant Part of the West of the City of London, called Newgate Street.

This Prison was first built either in the Time of Henry I. or that of King Stephen,¹ but in which there is no Certainty; And was then (as it has ever since continued to be) a Prison for Debtors, Felons, &c.

About Three hundred Years after the first Founding of this Prison, it became terribly Loathsome: And therefore, was in the Year 1412, rebuilt by the Executors of Sir Richard Whittington,² in the Reign of Henry VI.

The Architecture of this Structure is according to the Tuscan Order,³ magnificently built with Stone, with great Strength and Beauty.

In this magnificent Edifice are Three several Prisons, which are comprized under the following Denominations, viz. The Master’s Side,⁴ The Common Side and Press-Yard. [pp. 1–2]

PART V.

Of the Common Felons Side.

THIS Common Felons⁵ Side, is a most Terrible Wicked and Dreadful Place. Solomon says, The Curse of the Lord is in the House of the Wicked, Prov. ii. 33.⁶ And this is too much verified amongst these poor unfortunate Wretches: who, instead of Humbling themselves to Almighty God, and beseeching Him to give them His Grace, and to pardon their horrid Sins, continually augment the same, and in the most Sinful and Wicked Manner they possibly can contrive, accelerate their own Destruction.

In this Side there are Five Wards, Two of which are for Women, and Three for Men.

The Names of the Mens Wards are, The Stone Hold, The Lower Ward, and The Middle Ward.

1. The Stone Hold, a most terrible stinking, dark and dismal Place, situated under Ground, in which no Day-light can come, as also in which is a small Room at the Entrance therein, called The Passage.

This Hold (as likewise the Passage) is paved with Stone, on which the Prisoners lie without any Beds, and thereby endure great Misery and Hardship.

The Unhappy Persons imprisoned therein, are such as at their unfortunate Entrance, cannot pay the Customary Dues⁷ of the Gaol.

2. Adjacent thereunto, is a large Ward, called The Lower Ward, wherein are imprisoned such Felons, as are Fined in certain Sums of Money, till such time as those Fines are paid, or they are otherwise discharg’d.

This Ward is the same in all respects whatsoever with the Stone Hold.

In this Ward is Imprison’d William Fuller, who for imposing upon the Government, upon pretence of proving one Mrs. Mary Gray, to be the Mother of the Pretender,⁸ was Pillory’d, ⁹ Imprisoned and Fined; for the last of which he now remains confined, till the same be paid.

3. Over the preceding Ward, is situated the Middle Ward, wherein are imprison’d such Felons as have paid their Dues at their coming in.

This Ward is also very Dark, but not so cold as the foregoing, the Floor thereof being Oaken Plank, on which, however, the Felons lie without any sort of Bed.

The Women Felons Wards are Two; the first of which is situated over the Bilbows¹⁰ (an Account of which I shall give hereafter) called Waterman’s Hall; And this is also a very terrible dark and stinking Place; the Floor is of Oaken Planks, and is all the Bed allotted for its miserable Inhabitants.

Near to this Ward is a Cistern of Lead, which is plentifully supply’d every Day with fresh Water for the Use of the Prisoners therein.

The Second Women Felons Ward, is situated in the highest part of the whole Gaol, in the North part thereof, and is of a large Extent, in which is one Window only, and that very small.

On each side of this Ward are Barracks¹¹ placed, on which the Prisoners lie, but without any kind of Bed whatsoever.

The Persons imprisoned herein, are generally those that lie for Transportation;¹² and they knowing their Time to be short here, rather than bestow one Minute towards cleaning the same, suffer themselves to live far worse than Swine; and, to speak the Truth, the Augean Stable¹³ could bear no Comparison to it, for they are almost poisoned with their own Filth, and their Conversation is nothing but one continued Course of Swearing, Cursing and Debauchery, insomuch that it surpasses all Description and Belief.

It is with no small Concern, that I am obliged to observe, That the Women in every Ward of this Prison, are exceedingly worse than the worst of the Men, not only in respect to Nastiness and Indecency of living, but more especially as to their Conversation, which, to their great Shame, is as prophane and wicked, as Hell itself can possibly be.

PART VI.

Of the Press-Room, Bilbows and Condemned Holds.

THE Press-Room is a close and dark Place, situated near the Place call’d Waterman’s Hall, in which such Prisoners as will not Plead, are Pressed to Death.¹⁴

The Bilbows (a Room so call’d) adjacent to the Press-Room, is also very dark; in which are put such Prisoners, as occasion any Quarrel or Disturbance.

There are Two Condemned Holds, one for each Sex; that for the Men, is situated adjacent to the Lodge, in which is a very good Fire-place, and a Receptacle for necessary Conveniency.¹⁵

The Entrance therein, is at the Lodge, into which Place the Condemned Prisoners are admitted to come, upon Payment of 18 d.¹⁶ and to speak to those they are disposed to see; and this is the nearest Access that the most affectionate and faithful Friends, can have with the unhappy Prisoners confined therein.

This Hold (as ’tis called) is a large Room, about 20 Foot in Length, and 15 in Breadth, and at the farthest End thereof, is an Arch of the Gothick Order,¹⁷ whose Diameter is equal to the Breadth of the Whole, and makes appear, that anciently the Common Way for Foot Passengers was under the same, as it is now on the opposite Side.

The Floor of this Hold is of Plank, on which the Prisoners take their Nightly Rest, and wherein are divers Ring-bolts, to which such Prisoners are lock’d as are disorderly.

There is one Window herein, which is so very small, that little Light comes thereby, so that this Room is very dark.

’Tis Customary when any Felons are brought to the Lodge in Newgate, to put them first into this Condemned Hold, where they remain till they have paid 2 s. 6 d. after which they are admitted either to the Master or Common Felons Side.

The Condemned Prisoners twice every Day are conducted to the Chapel, where they receive such Admonitions as are necessary to prepare them for future Happiness, &c. And at proper times the Blessed Sacrament¹⁸ is Administred to them, and in particular on the Morning before they take their final Farewel of this World.

The Administration of the Holy Sacrament being ended, the Prisoners are led down into the Stone Hall of the Debtors (before described) in the midst of which their Irons are knock’d off, and then they are bound with the same fatal Hempen String,¹⁹ which shortly after finally determinates their wicked Days.

After that, they are conveyed down Stairs into the Street, at the bottom of which is provided a Cart, Coach, &c. in which they are conveyed to Tyburn;²⁰ and in the Passage thither, at St. Sepulchre’s Church, they are stopt some Minutes, till a certain Ceremony*²¹ is performed, and then they are carry’d to the Place of Exe cution, and by an infamous Death, make some sort of Atonement for the scandalous Misdeeds of their past shameful Lives.

The Womens Condemned Hold is situated adjacent to the Press-Room, and is a small dismal dark Dungeon, wherein is a Barrack for the Prisoners to lie on, but no Fire place, and is therefore very cold at all times.

The Dues, Customs, &c. herein, are the same with those of the Mens Condemned Hold before mentioned.

After the Execution is over, if the Sufferers have not Friends present to see them immediately decently Interred, ’tis customary to dispose of the dead Bodies by way of Sale to Surgeons for Anatomies, ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• General Introduction
• Select Bibliography
• Chronology
• 1. from [Batty Langley], An Accurate Description of Newgate (1724)
• 2. from Cesare Beccaria, An Essay on Crimes and Punishments (1767)
• 3. from William Eden, Principles of Penal Law, second edition (1771)
• 4. from William Dodd, Thoughts in Prison (1777)
• 5. J. Leroux, Thoughts on the Present State of the Prisons of This Country (1780)
• 6. from [Martin Madan], Thoughts on Executive Justice (1785)
• 7. from William Paley, The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785)
• 8. from Jeremy Bentham, Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House (1791)
• 9. from John Howard, The State of the Prisons in England and Wales, fourth edition (1792)
• 10. from William Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793)
• 11. William Hodgson, The Case of William Hodgson, Now Confined in Newgate (1796)
• 12. from George Walker, The Vagabond: A Novel (1799)
• 13. from John Aldini, An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism (1803)
• 14. from Sir Richard Phillips, A Letter to the Livery of London (1808)
• 15. Andrew Knapp and William Baldwin, ‘George Foster’, from Criminal Chronology; or, The New Newgate Calendar (1810), vol. 4
• 16. [Daniel Defoe and another], The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (c. 1810)
• 17. from Sir Samuel Romilly, Observations on the Criminal Law of England, as It Relates to Capital Punishments (1810)
• 18. from James Neild, State of the Prisons in England, Scotland, and Wales… (1812)
• 19. from Henry Grey Bennet, A Letter to the Common Council and Livery of the City of London, on the Abuses Existing in Newgate (1818)
• 20. from Thomas Fowell Buxton, An Inquiry, whether Crime and Misery Are Produced or Prevented, by Our Present System of Prison Discipline, 3rd edn (1818)
• 21. Anon., ‘Newgate Walls’ (c. 1820s)
• 22. Anon., The Life of Richard Turpin (c. 1820)
• 23. from [John Bigge], Report of the Commissioner of Inquiry into the State of the Colony of New South Wales (1822)
• 24. from Edward Gibbon Wakefield, Facts Relating to the Punishment of Death in the Metropolis (1831)
• 25. from Thomas Wontner, Old Bailey Experience (1833)
• 26. from [William Crawford and Whitworth Russell], Reports of the[Prison] Inspectors (1836)
• 27. from Memoir of the Life of Elizabeth Fry, ed. Katherine Fry and Rachel Elizabeth Cresswell (1847)
• 28. Anon., Full Particulars of the Examination and Committal to Newgate of Annette Myers, for the Wilful Murder of Henry Ducker (1848)
• Explanatory Notes