deration of the presentment of the insufficiency | place, în regard to the proposed alterations and of the gaol and house of correction, made at the enlargements of the prisons. preceding quarter sessions, and ordered to be And that they had selected, from the numes taken into consideration at that present ses-rous candidates for the office of matron to the sions, should be postponed to the then next sessions.

gaol and house of correction, the names of fire females, who had produced strong recommenda tions, testifying that they were well qualified to discharge the duties of the situation, which they had directed the clerk of the peace to submit to the consideration of the sessions, when the court would have to proceed, according to the pro visions of the fourth of the present king, e. 64. to make the appointments in question, and to adopt an arrangement for procuring the services of female turnkeys.

And it was then determined by the court, that, under the existing circumstances, it was expedient, and the said committee were thereupon directed to await the event of the bills then before parliament, for amending the late Gaol Act; and afterwards to prepare plans and esti. mates to meet the provisions of such bill, when and as soon as the same should be passed into a law.

And it was also ordered, that Mrs. Mary Rose should be appointed matron to the gaol and house of correction of the said county, at a salary of 60%. per annum, with a residence in the prison, and coals and candles.

And at the same sessions the keeper of the said gaol and house of correction reported to the court, That the state and condition of the said prisons were the same, in every respect, as reported by him at the preceding quarter sessions; and he certified, that the rules and regula tions existing for the government of the said prison had been complied with, and that no de

The visiting justices of the said gaol and viation therefrom had, to his knowledge, taken house of correction reported,

That they had inspected those prisons since the last sessions, and found that the prisoners in the house of correction were industriously employed; but they regretted to observe, that no classification' could be adopted in either of those places of confinement, owing to their crowded state and to their inadequate accommodation.

place.

And it was further ordered by the said court, that the presentments of the insufficiency of the said prisons should be further respited until she next quarter sessions.

At the Midsummer quarter sessions of the peace, 1824,

The visiting justices of the said prisons reported,

That they had inspected the gaol and house of correction, in the interval between Easter and Midsummer, 1824, and had found that those prisons were in good order. That no complaint had been made by any the prisoners, except with regard to the quality of the bread supplied,

This important subject had been brought under their particular consideration, in consequence of a communication which they had received from Mr. Secretary Peel, who had expressed his confidence, that, as the intermixture of prisoners was a practice contrary to law, the county of Devon would lose no time in reform-which was immediately redressed. ATTEN ing it. 206 45 153 an And it was thereupon ordered by: the said And it was thereupon ordered by the said court, that the said visiting justices should be court, that the said visiting justices should be re- re-appointed.mn. appointed until the next sessions. Comm

1

And the said committee appointed for taking into consideration the state of the said prisons, reported to the said court

That they had instructed the clerk of the peace to circulate, throughout the country, a full account of the proceedings which had taken

And it was also ordered, that the said coun mittee for taking into consideration the state of the said prisons and the said acts of parliament. should be re-appointed, and be requested to take -into full consideration all proceedings relative va the county prisons, and to report finally, to the then ensuing sessions, such alterations and addi

tions to the buildings as might be requisite to carry into effect, as soon as possible, the objects of the late acts of parliament.

his support, and expressing the wish of this court that a further allowance should be made.

And it was also ordered, that the clerk of the peace should also write to the honourable the commissioners of the board of excise, inquiring why the allowance of 74d. per day, heretofore granted by them to every prisoner confined for

And it was also ordered, that the present ment of the insufficiency of the said gaol and house of correction should be further respited until the then next sessions, when it should be taken into consideration in order to a final deter-offences against the excise laws, had been with mination; and that a copy of such order should be transmitted by the clerk of the peace to the several divisions of the said county.

drawn, and expressing the hope of this court that such allowance might be restored.

And at the same sessions, the chaplain of the

And the keeper of the gaol and house of cor- said prisons reported,—— rection for the said county reported,—

That in his opinion the condition of the pri

correction was, under all circumstances, good and comfortable. That the strict attention bestowed by the governor to the objects of his care, in the encouragement of the orderly, and control of the refractory, together with his humanity and firmness towards every individual, must point out his essential worth in the situation in which he is placed, and shew that he is alive to the welfare of the prisoner, as well as to society at large.

That the continual cleanliness which pervades the whole range of cells, both in the gaol and house of correction, which cannot be excelled, must of itself not only be productive of health, but general comfort; that is, such comfort as is consistent with prison discipline.

That the state and condition of the said prisoners confined in the county gaol and house of sons were the same in every respect as reported by him at the preceding sessions; and he certified that the rules and regulations existing for the government of the said prisons had been complied with, except in the matter of William Stanley and Peter Watts, who had been convicted of felony, and sentenced to die, but which sentence had been commuted to eighteen months' imprisonment to hard labour; and Henry Pope, a convicted felon, in execution for the remainder of his sentence of twelve months' imprisonment. That these prisoners had been guilty of great insubordination, and ultimately, with others, formed a conspiracy, and agreed to attempt an escape from prison; and to effect this purpose, and to have the command of their united strength, they had filled with stones the locks of their respective cells, and the locks of the whole division; and on the discovery of this plot, one of them produced a naked knife, to the great peril of the said keeper and of the other officers of the said prison. And thereupon the visiting justices had immediately proceeded to inquire into the particulars thereof; and that the same having been proved upon oath before them, they had ordered the said offenders, William Stanley and Peter Watts, forthwith to be punished by personal correction, and the said Henry Pope to be punished by close confinement; which said sentences respectively had been duly executed.

At the Michaelmas quarter-sessions, 1824, The visiting justices of the said prisons reported,―

That the sub-governor and matron were each, in their respective stations, equally alert and attentive to the duties required of them.

That the cleanliness and neatness of the female prisoners at all times, particularly when in attendance at chapel, reflected great credit on the matron. The chaplain considered he was pointing out what was well known to the justices themselves—the general cleanliness of every department, of every prisoner, and of every thing within the walls of the said prisons.

He looked forward with pleasure to the time when classification of prisoners should take place, which, in his opinion, is the only means of producing that kind of reformation so much wished for, and at which the legislature so much aims. A chaplain might do the utmost in his power to reclaim, but until there should be a classification, no visible good effects could shew themselves; for it almost invariably happened,› that although a prisoner might have received every spiritual and kind advice from the mini,

That they had visited the gaol and house of correction, and found that no complaint was brought forward on the part of any of the prisoners, excepting three, who were confined under commitments in customs and excise prosecations, who stated that the allowance of 44d.ster attending him, and have even deeply felt its per day, in the former cases, is not sufficient for their maintenance, and that with regard to prosecutions of the latter description, the allowance of 74d. per day had been withdrawn.

And it was thereupon ordered by the said court, that the clerk of the peace should forth. with write to the honourable the commissioners of his majesty's customs, stating that the said allowance of 4 d. per day, granted by them to every prisoner confined for offences against the laws relating to the customs, is not adequate to

force, yet, when obliged to mix promiscuously with his more depraved fellow-prisoners, he is laughed at for attending to the advice of the parson, and too soon his religious feelings pass away as the morning dew.

That the duties performed by the chaplain are the following: namely, on the Sabbath divine service twice, with two sermons; services on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays; services on Good Friday and Christmas-day, with sermons on each day; sacraments administered

every quarter, and oftener if need require; had resulted from it; on the contrary, he comvisiting the sick in the cells; supplying the sidered it a most wholesome employment, and prisoners with Bibles, Prayer-books, and religious one which operated materially to preserve good tracts; giving spiritual advice to all that need order and discipline, and to decrease crime. it; occasionally inspecting the state of the cells; That in both prisons the females were regukeeping a register for entering his attendances, larly employed in needlework and menial occu and making such remarks as he may deem ne-pations about the prisons. cessary.

That in point of inspection at the gaol, great And at the same sessions, the keeper of the defect exists, the windows of the gaoler's house commanding only two of the airing grounds or

said prisons reported,

That the state and condition of the said pri- divisions; but that in the house of correction sons were respectively as follow:

In the gaol......3 divisions;

1 for male felons.

1 for male misdemeanors.

1 for female prisoners of every description. In the house of correction......6 divisions; 1 for male convicted felons.

2 for male misdemeanors,

:1 for male vagrants.

the means of inspection are very good. That he need not further observe on this particular, as he knew it to be under the consideration of the court to make great and material alterations in the prisons, which would afford the opportunity both of classification and inspection.

That in the gaol, during the last year, 389 prisoners had been committed, being an increase on the number of the preceding year of 92. In

1 for female felons and misdemeanors the house of correction, during the last year, mixed.

1 for female vagrants.

That by the above arrangement it would be seen that the means of classification were not adequate, or in a sufficient degree conducive to the proper discipline and good management of the prisons.

945 prisoners had been committed, being a decrease, compared with the preceding year, of 332. That the increase in the number at the gaol might be attributed to the mode recently adopted of committing to that prison all offenders for trial, whereas formerly persons of that description were committed to both prisons indiscriminately.

That the decrease in the number at the house of correction, namely 332, was, he confessed, far beyond what he could have hoped. Allowing for those committed to the gaol for trial, still there would be a clear decrease of 240, as cantrasted with the prior year; and this he in

In the gaol, it was true, there were no offenders committed to hard labour, but they principally consisted of persons confined for trial for felonies and misdemeanors, and of some for offences against the revenue laws. There were not, however, any means of separating the young from the old, and the incorrigible from the less hardened offender. Felons of all de-puted in a great measure to the salutary operascriptions were unavoidably mixed together, and therefore very little could, he feared, be expected from the best exertions towards their reformation.

Another great bar to wholesome discipline was the idle state in which all the male prisoners in the gaol are of necessity constantly kept. However willing they might be to labour, no means existed to allow it; and perhaps it might be doubted, how far it would be prudent to put into the hands of prisoners tools which would either serve them for acts of violence, or afford them the means of escape. This was the only objec tion which appeared to him to bear upon the subject, and he felt it to be a weighty one. Although he certainly also felt that if it were practicable to set to work the prisoners in the gaol, much real good must result from it.

That to the house of correction these observations could not apply, for there the best and anost constant labour took place. The prisoners were daily employed; the most refractory at the tread-mill, and those of a better sort at sawing and polishing marble, beating hemp, oakum, &c.

tion of the tread-mill, and he would hope, in some degree to the increasing reformation of the lower orders of society.

He begged leave to subjoin a statement of the numbers and descriptions of prisoners committed to each prison in the last year, viz.

Felons. Misdemeanors. Vagrants.
110

To the gaol... 279
To the house

of correction 141

389

And at the same sessions, the said keeper of the said prisons certified that the rules and regalations for the government of the prisons had been complied with, so far as the same could be car. ried into effect; but that, for the most part, the said rules and regulations required a complete revision.

And at the same sessions, the committee ap pointed to take into consideration all proceedings relative to the county prisons, and to report finally such alterations as might be requisite t carry into immediate effect the objects of the late

In mentioning the tread-mill, he begged to re-act of parliament, reported,— present that although it had been established That they wished to refer the justices to the two years and upwards, no ill effects whatever former Reports made by the committee, for an

account of the existing state of the county prisons, and of the various plans which had been proposed for making the alterations requisite to carry into effect a due system of classification and discipline.

- That they had proceeded, in compliance with the instructions of the justices, to reconsider the plans of the proposed alterations, and the late acts of parliament relating to the subject; and that, upon an examination of Mr. Cole, the keeper, touching the number of wards and dayrooms particularised in the joint Report of Mr. Green and Mr. Underwood, laid before the court at the last Epiphany sessions, they were of opinion that it was not more than sufficient to meet the requisitions of the act of parliament, and to provide effectually for the classification and good regulation of the prison.

the said committee should be also requested to frame rules and regulations for the government of the said prisons; and that one county rate should be ordered to be raised at that and every ensuing quarter-sessions, in order to meet the expenses of the said works.

(Signed) W. TUCKER. Chairman of the Michaelmas General Quartersessions of the Peace for Devon, 1824.

No. 16. DORSETSHIRE. General Report, prepared by the Clerk of the Peace in pursuance of the Twenty-fourth Section of the Statute 4 Geo. IV. c. 64, and submitted to the Justices assembled at an Adjournment of the Michaelmas Sessions, held at Dorchester on Saturday, October 30th, 1824; being founded on the several Reports of the Visiting Justices and of the Chaplain, and on the Certificates of the Keeper of the United Gaol and House of Correction at Dorchester.

That the various alterations and improvements in the united gaol and house of correction, before reported to have been proposed, and to be then in progress, in order to comply with the requisitions of the statute, have now been completed; and that, by the subdivisions of some of the courts or wards, and by some additions to the building, within the outer wall, a classification and separation of the prisoners have been

That the only alteration which had occurred to them as desirable, in the plan submitted to the justices in that Report, was the transposition of the divisions to be appropriated to the females of the gaol and house of correction respectively, so that the females might be confined in the eastern wing of the gaol, instead of being placed in the centre of the united prison; and thus be entirely and effectually separated from all communication with the divisions allotted to the men. This alteration, however, would affect neither the general design nor the estimate of the buildings proposed by Mr. Green and Mr. Underwood. Under these circumstances, there-afforded, to a greater extent than is required by fore, and considering the length of time during which the important subject had awaited the decision of the justices, the committee had instructed their chairman to move, at the present sessions, that, subject to the variation above mentioned, the plan for altering the county prisons, laid before the court in the joint Report of Mr. Green and Mr. Underwood, should be adopted and carried into effect.

And it was thereupon ordered by the court, that the plans recommended by the said committee for altering and enlarging the prisons of the said county should be carried into effect. That in order thereto, the clerk of the peace should advertise for tenders for completing such plans. That a committee should be appointed to receive the tenders, and to report thereon to the court at the then next sessions. That such tenders should be made in one gross sum for the whole, or in separate sums for the performance of particular parts of the said work, to be divided by the said committee in such parts as they should think proper...

the act of the 4th Geo. IV. with regard to the male prisoners, and to the full extent required for the females; that the more extended classification, above alluded to, has enabled the visiting justices to separate, at their discretion, the juvenile male offenders from the older and hardier culprits; and that a school for their instruction, under the superintendence of the chaplain, has been established.

That the discipline of the tread-mill has continued to answer the object intended, with regard to the male prisoners, without any ill effects as to their bodily health, a due attention having been paid to the proportion of labour, with respect to the time that the mill is at work, at the several periods of the year; but that its application to the female prisoners has been discontinued since the month of April last, and the machine removed into another part of the prison, where it has been divided for the separate use of the several and distinct classes of vagrants and juvenile offenders. **Pr

That the discontinuance of the use of the That the county surveyors should be instructed tread-mill with respect to females, appears to to prepare specifications for executing the said have been occasioned by the representations of plans, and deliver the same to the clerk of the the surgeon, in several instances, of its ill effects peace. That the said committee should be re- in certain complaints to which women are subquested to consider how far the amount of the ject; and by the opportunity which the washing tenders might be reduced by the employment of and mending the linen of the whole number of the prisoners about the said works, and to pre-prisoners at present affords of subjecting the pare arrangements accordingly with the persons female convicts to a laborious occupation, which tendering for the performance thereof. That to many of them has appeared to be more irk

some than the operation of the tread-mill; but that a discretion is still vested in the visiting justices to provide another tread-mill for female prisoners, if circumstances should hereafter seem to require it.

Suburbs of the City of Durham, in and for the said County, on the 18th day of October, 1824.

Gentlemen,-In pursuance of the act of parliament passed in the fourth year of his present majesty's reign, intituled, "An Act for conso

66

That the general state of health of the prisoners has been reported to the visiting justices to be," lidating and amending the laws relating to the at this time, particularly good; and those com"building, repairing, and regulating of certain plaints which have occurred have been of a gaols and houses of correction in England common and trifling nature. "and Wales," I beg leave to state to you, that I have received Reports from the visiting justices at the last Epiphany, Easter, Midsummer, and Michaelmas quarter-sessions; and also the report of the Rev. Mr. Wheeler, the chaplain of the gaol and house of correction at Durham, at the last Michaelmas sessions; of which the following are copies, viz.

That the addition of one pound of potatoes to the ordinary prison diet, allowed to those employed on the tread-mill, some months ago, upon the recommendation of the surgeon, completely answered its object, with a view to the preservation of their health and strength.

That since the last Report, no instances of any extended disposition to insubordination have occurred in the prison, and but few of individual misbehaviour; and that the general demeanour of the prisoners has been regular and orderly; and that in no case has it been found necessary or expedient to resort to the use of irons.

That a set of rules and regulations, founded upon the statutes 4 Geo. IV. c. 64 and 5 Geo. IV. c. 85, received the sanction of the judges at the last summer assizes, have since been in force in the prison, and have hitherto been well observed; and that those before in force were, upon the whole, so observed as not to occasion any remark from the keeper, or any particular deviation from them.

Copy Report of the Justices appointed to visit

the Gaol and House of Correction at Durham,
made in conformity to Sections 17 and 23 of
4 Geo. IV. c. 64.

To the magistrates assembled at the Epiphany
sessions, 1824:
Repairs.

The amount of the current repairs is stated in the keeper's Report.

Alterations.

The old door to the coal-house has been shut up, and a new door made, to communicate with the coal-house through the lodge. The object of this alteration is to prevent any person having access to the coal-yard, from whence the escape is by no means difficult, without first passing through the lodge. A new door is also to be made in the west wall of the prison, against which the vagrant-house is built, there being at present no access to the vagrant-house from the prison, except by passing out of the prison gate, and re-entering through the taskmaster's lodge,

Classification.

That the general demeanour of the prisoners towards the chaplain has been respectful, and that his admonitions and instructions have been listened to; that a due observance of the religious duties, prescribed by the rules and regulations, has been enforced by the several authorities of the prison; that few instances of irreverence during divine service have occurred, and that those have appeared to have been reprobated by the other prisoners; and that since the new rules and regulations have been in force, and have been made known to the prisoners to be substantially the same as those by which will admit, but not altogether such as the acts other gaols are governed, a more uniform obe- of parliament relative to this subject contemdience to them has been secured, and an in-plated. creasing disposition to quiet and orderly conduct has been observed; that the remission of part of the sentence of one of the prisoners, in consequence of a recommendation to the royal mercy, founded on a remarkable change in his habits and demeanour, appears to have made an impression on the other prisoners.

C. B. WOLLASTON,
Chairman.

No. 17.-DURHAM.

Clerk of the Peace's Report.-Gaol Act,

4 Geo. IV. c. 64.

The classification is as perfect as the building

Classes Male.

1. Debtors, and persons convicted of contempt of court in civil process, are confined in the wing of the prison appropriated to debtors only.

2. Persons convicted of felony have one ommon day-room, and one airing-room.

3. Persons convicted of misdemeanors have a common day-room, and separate airing-grounds except when employed at the pump.

4. Persons committed on charge or suspicion of felony have a day-room and airing-ground to themselves.

5. Persons charged with misdemeanors done The General Report of the Deputy Clerk of the a separate day-room, but no other airing-grand Peace of the County of Durham, to the Jus-than that which is used by convicted misderneat tices assembled at the Michaelmas Quarter ants.

Sessions, holden at the County Courts in the 6. Vagrants have a separate room, but no sir –