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King's Bench Prison

October 28, 2023

The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from medieval times until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were heard; as such, the prison was often used as a debtor's prison until the practice was abolished in the 1860s. In 1842, it was renamed the Queen's Bench Prison,[2] and became the Southwark Convict Prison in 1872.[3]

Origins Edit

The first prison was originally constructed from two houses and was situated in Angel Place, off Borough High Street, Southwark – as with other judicial buildings it was often targeted during uprisings, being burned in 1381 and 1450. During the reign of King Henry VIII, new prison buildings were constructed within an enclosing brick wall. This was eventually demolished in 1761.[4]

New building Edit

 
Locations of King's Bench Prison and Horsemonger Lane Gaol, c.1833.
 
The King's Bench Prison in 1830.

Its 1758 replacement was built at a cost of £7,800 on a 4-acre (16,000 m2) site close to St George's Fields (south of Borough Road, close to its junction with Blackman Street/Newington Causeway, and a short distance from Horsemonger Lane Gaol; today the site is occupied by the Scovell housing estate). Although much larger and better appointed than some other London prisons, the new King's Bench still gained a reputation for being dirty, overcrowded and prone to outbreaks of typhus. Debtors had to provide their own bedding, food and drink. Those who could afford it purchased 'Liberty of the Rules' allowing them to live within three square miles of the prison.

On 10 May 1768, the imprisonment in King's Bench of radical John Wilkes (for writing an article for The North Briton, that severely criticized King George III) prompted a riot – the Massacre of St George's Fields – in which five people were killed.[5] Like the earlier buildings, this prison was also badly damaged in a fire started in the 1780 Gordon Riots. It was rebuilt 1780-84 by John Deval the King's Master Mason.[6]

In 1842 it became the Queen's Prison taking debtors from the Marshalsea and Fleet Prisons and sending lunatics to Bedlam. Fees and the benefits they could buy were abolished, and soon after it passed into the hands of the Home Office during the 1870s, it was closed and demolished.

Literary connections Edit

English dramatist Thomas Dekker was imprisoned in the King's Bench Prison because of a debt of £40 to the father of John Webster, from 1612 to 1619. In prison he continued to write.

In Charles Dickens' David Copperfield Mr Micawber is imprisoned for debt in the King's Bench Prison. Madeline Bray and her father lived within the Rules of the King's Bench in Nicholas Nickleby, while the prison is also discussed by Mr. Rugg and Arthur Clennam in Little Dorrit.[7]

In Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Sailor, King's Bench is referred to when Melville describes John Claggart as being possibly arraigned at King's Bench.

In his The Diary of a Prison Governor, James William Newham (1825–1890) makes reference to the period that his step-father, Henry Benthall, spent in the Queen's Bench Prison (c.1839) for bankruptcy, after running up debts to the tune of £15,000 following the failure of his business as a wine merchant in the Strand.[citation needed] Newham (at this time aged 14) recalls "staying over on occasions" with his mother, in Benthall's rooms at the prison, where such proceedings were winked at "for a consideration". On his release from the Queen's Bench, Benthall was to live within "the rules of the prison" (i.e., in the immediate neighbourhood).

It could be said that Benthall's eventful and troubled monetary situation, and its consequences on his lifestyle and social standing, along with some of his rather dubious business partners, are reflected in the writings and characters of Charles Dickens.[citation needed] Newham notes in his diary that he lived and worked for Benthall for a period at Cecil Street, the Strand. Coincidentally, Dickens also lived in Cecil Street at that time. It was 12 years later that the diarist, through connections of his step-father, secured a position as clerk at Maidstone Gaol, which in turn led to Newham becoming Assistant Governor of Maidstone, and Governor of St Augustine's Prison, Canterbury, in 1878.

Between 1857 and 1876, Newham oversaw the hanging of 24 inmates (all of them murderers) including that of Frances Kidder in 1868. Kidder (25) was found guilty of drowning her 12-year-old step-daughter, Louisa Staples, in 12 inches of ditch water. Following a change in attitudes and the law, she became the last woman to be publicly executed in England. Less severe punishments included flogging (usually up to 20 lashes applied) and solitary confinement, as well as the daily routine of a six-hour shift spent on the treadmill for those prisoners set to hard labour.

Walter Besant's 1899 novel The Orange Girl begins with its protagonist, William Halliday, a musician disinherited by his wealthy family, in the Rules of King's Bench Prison in London.

The part played by the prison in the life of the time is described by William Russell in his 1858 work “The Recollections of a Policeman”. From Chapter XIV, ‘The Martyrs of Chancery’:

In Lambeth Marsh stands a building better known than honored. The wealthy merchant knows it as the place where an unfortunate friend, who made that ruinous speculation during the recent sugar-panic, is now a denizen; the man-about-town knows it as a spot to which several of his friends have been driven, at full gallop, by fleet race-horses and dear dog-carts; the lawyer knows it as the “last scene of all,” the catastrophe of a large proportion of law-suits; the father knows it as a bug-bear wherewith to warn his scapegrace spendthrift son; but the uncle knows it better as the place whence nephews date protestations of reform and piteous appeals, “this once,” for bail. Few, indeed, are there who has not heard of the Queen’s Prison, or, as it is more briefly and emphatically termed, “The Bench!”[citation needed]

Notable inmates Edit

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ David Brandon; Alan Brooke (15 August 2011). Bankside: London's Original District of Sin. Amberley Publishing Limited. pp. 82–. ISBN 978-1-4456-0962-1.
  2. ^ Mitchel P. Roth (2006). Prisons and Prison Systems: A Global Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 152–. ISBN 978-0-313-32856-5.
  3. ^ The American Philatelist. American Philatelic Association. January 2006.
  4. ^ "Additional Information (South): King's Bench". Crime & Punishment. UK: London Footprints.
  5. ^ "King's Bench Prison". Spartacus Educational.
  6. ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.129
  7. ^ Dickens London 2013-01-23 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Todd, Janet, M. (1987). A Dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660-1800. United States: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 40. ISBN 0-8476-7125-9 – via The Internet Archive.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Tedder, Henry Richard (1890). "Hansard, Thomas Curson" . In Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney (eds.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 308.
  10. ^ Memoirs of Daniel Mendoza
  11. ^ Tedder, Henry Richard (1896). "Pitt, Moses" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 45. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  12. ^ "Episode 1". A House Through Time. Series 3. Episode 1. 26 May 2020. BBC One. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  13. ^ "[no title]". Whitehall Evening Post. 28 November 1758. {{cite news}}: Cite uses generic title (help)

51°29′59″N 0°05′52″W / 51.4998°N 0.0979°W / 51.4998; -0.0979

October 28, 2023
king, bench, prison, prison, southwark, south, london, england, from, medieval, times, until, closed, 1880, took, name, from, king, bench, court, which, cases, defamation, bankruptcy, other, misdemeanours, were, heard, such, prison, often, used, debtor, prison. The King s Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark south London England from medieval times until it closed in 1880 It took its name from the King s Bench court of law in which cases of defamation bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were heard as such the prison was often used as a debtor s prison until the practice was abolished in the 1860s In 1842 it was renamed the Queen s Bench Prison 2 and became the Southwark Convict Prison in 1872 3 King s Bench PrisonKing s Bench Prison by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson 1808 11 LocationSouthwark London EnglandStatusClosedClosed1880 1 Notable prisonersBenjamin Haydon Henry Hetherington Alexander Holborne William Hone John Pell John Rushworth Christopher Smart John Horne Tooke John Wilkes Marc Isambard Brunel Contents 1 Origins 2 New building 3 Literary connections 4 Notable inmates 5 See also 6 ReferencesOrigins EditThe first prison was originally constructed from two houses and was situated in Angel Place off Borough High Street Southwark as with other judicial buildings it was often targeted during uprisings being burned in 1381 and 1450 During the reign of King Henry VIII new prison buildings were constructed within an enclosing brick wall This was eventually demolished in 1761 4 New building Edit nbsp Locations of King s Bench Prison and Horsemonger Lane Gaol c 1833 nbsp The King s Bench Prison in 1830 Its 1758 replacement was built at a cost of 7 800 on a 4 acre 16 000 m2 site close to St George s Fields south of Borough Road close to its junction with Blackman Street Newington Causeway and a short distance from Horsemonger Lane Gaol today the site is occupied by the Scovell housing estate Although much larger and better appointed than some other London prisons the new King s Bench still gained a reputation for being dirty overcrowded and prone to outbreaks of typhus Debtors had to provide their own bedding food and drink Those who could afford it purchased Liberty of the Rules allowing them to live within three square miles of the prison On 10 May 1768 the imprisonment in King s Bench of radical John Wilkes for writing an article for The North Briton that severely criticized King George III prompted a riot the Massacre of St George s Fields in which five people were killed 5 Like the earlier buildings this prison was also badly damaged in a fire started in the 1780 Gordon Riots It was rebuilt 1780 84 by John Deval the King s Master Mason 6 In 1842 it became the Queen s Prison taking debtors from the Marshalsea and Fleet Prisons and sending lunatics to Bedlam Fees and the benefits they could buy were abolished and soon after it passed into the hands of the Home Office during the 1870s it was closed and demolished Literary connections EditEnglish dramatist Thomas Dekker was imprisoned in the King s Bench Prison because of a debt of 40 to the father of John Webster from 1612 to 1619 In prison he continued to write In Charles Dickens David Copperfield Mr Micawber is imprisoned for debt in the King s Bench Prison Madeline Bray and her father lived within the Rules of the King s Bench in Nicholas Nickleby while the prison is also discussed by Mr Rugg and Arthur Clennam in Little Dorrit 7 In Herman Melville s Billy Budd Sailor King s Bench is referred to when Melville describes John Claggart as being possibly arraigned at King s Bench In his The Diary of a Prison Governor James William Newham 1825 1890 makes reference to the period that his step father Henry Benthall spent in the Queen s Bench Prison c 1839 for bankruptcy after running up debts to the tune of 15 000 following the failure of his business as a wine merchant in the Strand citation needed Newham at this time aged 14 recalls staying over on occasions with his mother in Benthall s rooms at the prison where such proceedings were winked at for a consideration On his release from the Queen s Bench Benthall was to live within the rules of the prison i e in the immediate neighbourhood It could be said that Benthall s eventful and troubled monetary situation and its consequences on his lifestyle and social standing along with some of his rather dubious business partners are reflected in the writings and characters of Charles Dickens citation needed Newham notes in his diary that he lived and worked for Benthall for a period at Cecil Street the Strand Coincidentally Dickens also lived in Cecil Street at that time It was 12 years later that the diarist through connections of his step father secured a position as clerk at Maidstone Gaol which in turn led to Newham becoming Assistant Governor of Maidstone and Governor of St Augustine s Prison Canterbury in 1878 Between 1857 and 1876 Newham oversaw the hanging of 24 inmates all of them murderers including that of Frances Kidder in 1868 Kidder 25 was found guilty of drowning her 12 year old step daughter Louisa Staples in 12 inches of ditch water Following a change in attitudes and the law she became the last woman to be publicly executed in England Less severe punishments included flogging usually up to 20 lashes applied and solitary confinement as well as the daily routine of a six hour shift spent on the treadmill for those prisoners set to hard labour Walter Besant s 1899 novel The Orange Girl begins with its protagonist William Halliday a musician disinherited by his wealthy family in the Rules of King s Bench Prison in London The part played by the prison in the life of the time is described by William Russell in his 1858 work The Recollections of a Policeman From Chapter XIV The Martyrs of Chancery In Lambeth Marsh stands a building better known than honored The wealthy merchant knows it as the place where an unfortunate friend who made that ruinous speculation during the recent sugar panic is now a denizen the man about town knows it as a spot to which several of his friends have been driven at full gallop by fleet race horses and dear dog carts the lawyer knows it as the last scene of all the catastrophe of a large proportion of law suits the father knows it as a bug bear wherewith to warn his scapegrace spendthrift son but the uncle knows it better as the place whence nephews date protestations of reform and piteous appeals this once for bail Few indeed are there who has not heard of the Queen s Prison or as it is more briefly and emphatically termed The Bench citation needed Notable inmates EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources King s Bench Prison news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Maria Barrell poet and playwright imprisoned for debt in the 1780s 8 Richard Baxter Cesare Bossi composer Thomas Brown Marc Isambard Brunel engineer imprisoned 1821 for debt Charles Clerke officer in the Royal Navy who sailed on all three voyages of exploration with Captain James Cook Claude de la Colombiere William Combe Edmund Curll Alexander Davison imprisoned 1804 for fraud Nathaniel Eaton schoolmaster of Harvard College clergyman imprisoned for debt died there 1674 Edmund John Eyre John Galt imprisoned c 1829 Robert Gouger Emma Lady Hamilton Thomas Curson Hansard imprisoned on 9 July 1810 for libel 9 Thomas Hawkes MP for Dudley imprisoned 1857 for debt Benjamin Haydon Henry Hetherington Alexander Holborne William Hone Jeremiah Lear stockbroker father of Edward Lear imprisoned c 1816 for bankruptcy Frederick John Manning coroner of the Verge 1836 1853 imprisoned 1853 1855 for debt Daniel Mendoza champion boxer of England 10 John Pell John Penry martyr briefly incarcerated before his execution in 1593 Moses Pitt publisher noted for publishing The Cry of the Oppressed a moving appeal on behalf of himself and all prisoners for debt across the nation 11 Edward Henry Purcell grandson of Henry Purcell organist printer music publisher imprisoned 1761 for debt Mary Robinson poet imprisoned 1775 with husband for his debts Robert Recorde mathematician imprisoned for debt died there 1558 John Rushworth Richard Ryan poet playwright biographer imprisoned March 1835 for debt John Shebbeare satirist for libel 12 13 Christopher Smart Charlotte Turner Smith poet imprisoned 1784 with her husband Benjamin for his debts William Smith geologist imprisoned for debt released 1819 Andrew Robinson Stoney MP for Newcastle upon Tyne High Sheriff of Durham imprisoned for conspiracy to abduct his wife died there 1810 John Horne Tooke Samuel Vetch 1st Governor of Nova Scotia imprisoned for debt died there 1732 John WilkesSee also EditMarshalseaReferences Edit David Brandon Alan Brooke 15 August 2011 Bankside London s Original District of Sin Amberley Publishing Limited pp 82 ISBN 978 1 4456 0962 1 Mitchel P Roth 2006 Prisons and Prison Systems A Global Encyclopedia Greenwood Publishing Group pp 152 ISBN 978 0 313 32856 5 The American Philatelist American Philatelic Association January 2006 Additional Information South King s Bench Crime amp Punishment UK London Footprints King s Bench Prison Spartacus Educational Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660 1851 by Rupert Gunnis p 129 Dickens London Archived 2013 01 23 at the Wayback Machine Todd Janet M 1987 A Dictionary of British and American women writers 1660 1800 United States Rowman amp Littlefield p 40 ISBN 0 8476 7125 9 via The Internet Archive a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Tedder Henry Richard 1890 Hansard Thomas Curson In Stephen Leslie Lee Sidney eds Dictionary of National Biography Vol 24 London Smith Elder amp Co p 308 Memoirs of Daniel Mendoza Tedder Henry Richard 1896 Pitt Moses In Lee Sidney ed Dictionary of National Biography Vol 45 London Smith Elder amp Co Episode 1 A House Through Time Series 3 Episode 1 26 May 2020 BBC One Retrieved 30 May 2020 no title Whitehall Evening Post 28 November 1758 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a Cite uses generic title help 51 29 59 N 0 05 52 W 51 4998 N 0 0979 W 51 4998 0 0979 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title King 27s Bench Prison amp oldid 1158858305, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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