The rules of the room

1. The rules of the room For every man that comes in to pay 3d for candles. The youngest prisoner is to do any thing he is asked. New men are to clean the room. A notice pinned on the wall of a Yarmouth prison. Many prisoners who were found not guilty could not afford to get out of prison because they could not afford the discharge fee set by the gaoler. (Jailer) Findings of a local Sheriff. Prisoners already in a cell forced new prisoners to pay a fee to them known as a ‘garnish’ for protection. Findings of a local Sheriff. All sorts of characters were together. There was much talk of crime and instructing one another in all manner of wickedness. The effect of this was to make a man ten times worse than before and he would be sure to return to a life of crime. A former prisoner at York giving evidence to a government committee. Entire families would often live there with their imprisoned head-of-the-household. The prisoners had to pay for everything: food and lodging, to get out of shackles. Extract from a History textbook Jailer – Salary: None. Chaplain – Salary: £40 Surgeon – Salary: None. Accounts of a Gloucestershire prison.

2. There is only one small day room, twelve feet by eleven for men and women criminals. The cell is dark and the floors are so disgusting that they cannot be washed. As there is no separation of men and women six children have been born this month. Many prisoners died here. Extracts from a report on Gloucester gaol by John Howard, 1777. No bedding is provided: the poorer description of prisoners sleep on the boards between two rugs given by the city. Those who can afford it hire beds at sixpence per night. The allowance of food for debtors is 14 ounces of bread a day and two ounces of meat. There are no candles, coals or buckets. From a report on Newgate Prison, 1814. An artist’s impression of a gaol. The men who looked after these prisoners – the jailers – did not earn a wage so made money from selling food, beer and tobacco to prisoners. They also charged them a fee to be released from prison. From a History textbook. In these prisons convicts of all ages were packed together into filthy cells without enough food, water, toilets or light. From a History textbook.