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OTHER TRUE CRIME BOOKS FROM WHARNCLIFFE
Black Barnsley
Brighton Crime and Vice 18002000
Britains Most Notorious Hangmen
Crafty Crooks and Conmen
Criminal Women
DNA Crime Investigations
Durham Executions
Enemies of the State
Essex Murders
Executions & Hangings in Newcastle & Morpeth
Great Hoaxers, Artful Fakers and Cheating Charlatans
Great Train Crimes
Hanged in Lancashire
Kent Murder and Mayhem
Jack the Ripper: Quest for a Killer
Miscarriages of Justice
Murder and Mayhem in North London
Norfolk Mayhem and Murder
Norwich Murders
Notorious Murders of the Twentieth Century
Rotherham Murders
Scotland Yardss Ghost Squad
Serial Killers: Butchers and Cannibals
Serial Killers: Murder Without Mercy
Serial Killers: The Worlds Most Evil
Strangeways: A Century of Hangings in Manchester
The A-Z of London Murders
The Guvnors
The Plot to Kill Lloyd George
The Romford Outrage
The Sweeney
The Thames Torso Murders
The Wharncliffe A-Z of Yorkshire Murder
Unsolved East Anglian Murders
Unsolved London Murders: The 1920s and 1930s
Unsolved London Murders: The 1940s and 1950s
Unsolved Murders in and Around Derbyshire
Unsolved Murders in Victorian & Edwardian London
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This book is dedicated to Sister Julia Keane
of Nightingale Ward, Whittington Hospital,
Highgate Hill, London,
for her kindness and compassion
First Published in Great Britain in 2012 by
Wharncliffe Books
an imprint of
Pen and Sword Books Ltd.
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright Geoffrey Howse 2012
9781783030675
The right of Geoffrey Howse to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Typeset in 11/13pt Plantin by Concept, Huddersfield.
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Introduction
I t will probably come as no surprise for the reader to learn that London has contained more prisons than any other English city. It has, after all for centuries, been the seat of government and the largest city in the land. In addition to giving historical information concerning Londons various penal institutions, I have also endeavoured to give an insight to some of the individuals who found themselves wrapped up within the complexities and intricacies of English law, through the centuries, since the reign of William the Conqueror. In general terms I have covered the area which we today know as London, including, the City of London, the City of Westminster, parts of the County of Middlesex and the area on the south bank of the River Thames, the County of Surrey; for all of which Londons prisons were built and grew to serve.
In the Middle Ages, judicial power was vested not only in the kings authority but also extended to the bishops and lords. More often than not each had his own personal place of detention within a palace or castle. In London, however, these powers extended to elected officials who administered their own justice in virtually all cases excepting those involving the gravest of treasons. For both the common and general populace some degree of law and order was established during the reign of Edward l (12721307) when his majesty instituted the watch, to patrol the streets at night and keep the peace.
The highest in the land were protected by their own retainers who in turn were offered some degree of security in varying degrees down the ranks of the hierarchical structure that existed then; and until at least the 1920s. The watch gradually expanded to safeguard Londons interests but it was not until Charles IIs reign (166085) that this force had a considerable impact on the stability of day-to-day life for the ordinary citizens of London, as well as the highly born. Watchmen took on a more significant role and began to wear a distinctive uniform of greatcoats and leather helmets, they carried lanterns and were protected by bludgeons; they also carried rattles to use in alarm situations. The watch, fortified by local constables, remained Londons only major contribution to the protection of the man-in-the-street until the Metropolitan Police Force was established in 1829.
