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A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. ... In England and Wales, debtors' prisons varied in the amount of freedom they allowed the debtor.
Before the Bankruptcy Act 1869, debtors in England were routinely imprisoned at the pleasure of their creditors. Around 10,000 people in England and Wales were in prison for debt in 1641, often for small amounts. [26] In the 18th century debtors comprised over half the prison population: [27] 945 of London's 1,500 prisoners in 1779 were debtors ...
In England, debtors owing money could be easily detained by the courts for indefinite periods, being kept in debtor's prisons.Approximately 10,000 people were imprisoned for debt each year during the nineteenth century. [3]
The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from the Middle Ages 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.
The prison was built in 1197 off what is now Farringdon Street, on the eastern bank of the River Fleet after which it was named. It came into particular prominence from being used as a place of reception for persons committed by the Star Chamber, and, afterwards, as a debtor's prison and for persons imprisoned for contempt of court by the Court of Chancery.
The Debtor's Prison was originally built as the County Gaol in 1701–05 [1] due to an act of Parliament, the Insolvent Debtors Relief Act 1702 (1 Ann. c. 19). [a] [citation needed] [dubious – discuss] It is located to the south of Clifford's Tower, within the former castle bailey.
To most of us, "debtors' prison" sounds like an archaic institution, something straight out of a Dickens novel. But the idea of jailing people who can't pay what they owe is alive and well in 21st ...
A Plaque marking the site where Whitecross Street Prison stood. Whitecross Street Prison was a debtors' prison in London, England. It was built between 1813–15 to ease overcrowding at Newgate Prison and closed in 1870, when all of the prisoners were transferred to the newly built Holloway Prison.