CHAPTER XI.
THE NEW GAOL.
Corporation anxious to check gaol fever—- Appoints committee to report as to building a new prison—York Castle proposed for imitation—Plans obtained, and given to city architect, Mr. Dance—Nothing is done, and in 1757 neighbours petition Corporation that they are afraid of infection from Newgate—A new committee appointed, which furnishes designs, but Government will not give grant in aid, and project again falls through—Revived again and again to no effect—In 1762 Press-yard destroyed by fire—Two prisoners burnt to death—It is at last decided to rebuild—7 Geo. III. empowers Corporation to raise funds—Specification of expenditure—£50,000 total amount proposed—Found insufficient, and an additional £40,000 authorized—Lord Mayor Beckford lays first stone in 1770—The new gaol is gutted in the Lord George Gordon riots—Origin of these riots—Lord George presents, at head of procession, petition to House of Commons—Riotous demonstrations—Mob attracted to Newgate—The gaoler, Mr. Akerman, summoned to surrender, and release his prisoners—He refuses, and seeks help from Sheriff’s—Rioters storm Newgate—Sack Governor’s house—His furniture is burnt against the gates, which finally give way—Rioters, headed by Dennis the hangman, rush in and set inmates free—Extraordinary effects of the fire—Other gaols attacked and burnt—The military called out, and much blood shed before calm is restored—Many released prisoners return to Newgate of their own accord—Some try to rekindle the fire—Lord George arrested, lodged in the Tower, and tried for high treason, but acquitted—Six years later, he takes up the case of some Newgate prisoners in a pamphlet, called libellous, for which he is prosecuted—Arrested in Jewish garb in Birmingham—He undertakes his own defence—He protests against the criminal law, and declares himself the victim of persecution—Prosecuted for second libel against Queen of France and the French Ambassador—Lord George is found guilty on both counts—Sentenced to fines and imprisonment in Newgate—Dies in Newgate of gaol fever, 1793—Recovery of Newgate keys, stolen during riots—Cost of repairing gaol after the fire.
I HAVE described in the preceding chapter how the gaol fever spread from Newgate to the Old Bailey in 1750, and the havoc it occasioned. An account has also been given of the steps taken by the Corporation to minimize the chances of a fresh outbreak. The erection of a ventilator and windmill might do something towards rendering Newgate less foul, but much more was needed to make it a suitable receptacle for the numbers it was often called upon to hold. The total acreage covered by its ill-contrived, ruinous buildings was under three quarters of an acre, and upon this space as many as three hundred persons were sometimes crowded together;[192] while a part of this limited area was otherwise occupied by the Old Bailey Sessions’ House, gardens, and yards. The existing prison was obviously inadequate. One of the sheriffs in the year of the great mortality stigmatizes it as an abominable sink of beastliness and corruption. The Lord Mayor, judges, and the whole of the Court of Aldermen were so thoroughly persuaded, we are told, that notwithstanding all precautions, no effectual remedy could be applied to check the gaol infection but that of reconstruction, that a committee of the Common Council was appointed to consider the best method of building a new prison. It was for this reason, says a letter from one of the sheriffs who had been in office in 1750, that the old ruinous buildings between the Old Bailey Sessions’ House and Newgate belonging to the city were allowed to fall in, and that a plan for a new gaol became the general topic, as well as the general desire. Many people sought to have a finger in the pie. The committee to which the subject had been referred was lectured and advised in numerous letters, some authenticated, and many anonymous. It was suggested that they should imitate the example of the county of York, which had not long before rebuilt the gaol on an excellent plan, with sufficient internal area, water in great plenty, and all other conveniences, so that the inmates, averaging from a hundred to a hundred and twenty at most, are almost certain of being preserved in a healthy state at all times. Application was actually made to the Yorkshire county authorities, who forwarded four plans of their prison—“the noble prison in a spacious area,” of which Howard speaks in 1772. These plans came into the hands of Mr. Dance, the city surveyor, who seems to have been guided by them in the design he furnished the Newgate committee in 1755 for a new prison.
This committee was not ambitious, and was satisfied with endeavouring to improve and extend rather than reconstruct. “The business of enlarging the gaol engaged its attention,” we are told. It was to be effected according to their idea by making an “airy” or walking place for prisoners. For this purpose all the houses between Newgate and the Sessions’ House Gate were to be taken down, and an enclosure made on the space, surrounded by a strong wall. This recommendation when brought forward by the committee scarcely went far enough for the Common Council, who were at first strongly of opinion that it would be more proper to rebuild the gaol. But although they were convinced of the propriety, they speedily let the matter drop, and nothing was done as regards Newgate for another couple of years.
In 1757, however, the residents in the immediate neighbourhood of Newgate raised their protest against the gaol, and petitioned the Corporation, “setting forth their apprehensions from their vicinity to Newgate, and from the stenches proceeding therefrom, of being subject to an infectious disease called the gaol distemper.” Upon receipt of this petition, the Common Council appointed a fresh committee, and the various allegations were gone into seriatim. They next surveyed the gaol itself and the surrounding premises, examined the site with a view to rebuilding, and had plans prepared with estimates and specifications as to cost of ground and construction. The projected design embraced a series of quadrangles, one for the debtors and another for the felons, with an area to each. The probable expense for a work which the committee were of opinion was greatly needed would amount to about £40,000, for which sum “they did resolve to petition Parliament for a grant.” This petition was, however, never presented. Mr. Alderman Dickens, having spoken privately to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the subject, was informed that no public money would be forthcoming, and the project again fell through.
It did not entirely drop notwithstanding. To the credit of the Corporation it must be stated, that many attempts were made to grapple with the difficulties of ways and means. Application was made to Parliament more than once for powers to raise money for the work by some proportionable tax on the city and county, but always without avail. Parties differed as to the manner in which funds should be obtained, yet all were agreed upon the “immediate necessity for converting this seat of misery and disease, this dangerous source of contagion, into a secure and wholesome place of confinement.” The matter became more urgent, the occasion more opportune, when that part of the prison styled the press-yard was destroyed by fire in 1762.
Some account of this fire may be inserted here. It broke out in the middle of the night at the back of the staircase in the press-yard, and in a few hours consumed all the apartments in that place, and greatly damaged the chapel. Other adjoining premises, particularly that of a stocking-trimmer in Phœnix Court, were greatly injured by the fire. Worst of all, two prisoners perished in the flames. One was Captain Ogle, who had been tried for murdering the cook of the Vine Tavern, near Dover St., Piccadilly, but had been found insane on arraignment, and had accordingly been detained in prison “during His Majesty’s pleasure.” There was no Broadmoor asylum in those days for criminal lunatics, and Newgate was a poor substitute for the palatial establishment now standing among the Berkshire pine woods. The fire was supposed to have originated in Captain Ogle’s room. Beneath it was one occupied by Thomas Smith, a horse-dealer, committed to prison on suspicion of stealing corn from Alderman Masters. Smith’s wife the night before the conflagration had carried him the whole of his effects, amounting to some five or six hundred pounds in notes and bank bills. When the fire was raging Smith was heard to cry out for help. He was seen also to put his arm through the iron grating, which, however, was so excessively hot that it set his shirt on fire. About this time it is supposed that he threw out his pocket-book containing the notes; it was caught and the valuables saved. A few minutes later the floor fell in, and both Captain Ogle and Smith were buried in the ruins. The fire had burnt so fiercely and so fast that no one could go to the assistance of either of these unfortunates. By six a.m., there being an abundance of water handy, the flames had greatly abated, but the fire continued to burn till two in the afternoon, and ended by the fall of a party wall, which happily did no great damage. About four a.m. the Lord Mayor and sheriffs arrived upon the scene, and took an active part in the steps taken to check the fire and provide for the safety of the prisoners.
This was no doubt the fire at which Mr. Akerman behaved with such intrepidity, and which has already been described.[193]
After the fire it was admitted that the proper time was arrived for “putting in execution the plan of rebuilding this inconvenient goal, which was thought of some time ago.” Once more a committee of the Common Council was appointed, and once more the question of site was considered, with the result that the locality of the existing prison was decided upon as the most suitable and convenient. Upon the receipt of this report, 1763, it was resolved to petition Parliament again for assistance, and this time the petition was actually presented. But the zeal of the Corporation for prison reform must have waxed cold, for I find it recorded in 1765 (5th March) that the project for rebuilding Newgate was laid aside. But the House of Commons, however, had not ignored the city’s petition. They had referred the whole subject to a committee, which took the evidence of all persons closely concerned. It was clearly proved that a new gaol was indispensable. Mr. Dance, the city surveyor, was quite against extension or reappropriation by adding on the Sessions’ House, and there was nothing to be done but to build a new prison. An Act was accordingly passed in 1766 (the 7 Geo. III.), authorizing the Corporation to raise for various works a certain sum at 3½ per cent. per annum, to be paid off by a tax at the rate of 6d. per ton on coal or culm imported into the city, of which £50,000 were to be applied to the purpose of erecting the new Newgate.
The following is a short summary of the various items of proposed expenditure, extracted from a pamphlet published by the Corporation under date 1767.