whom is of the quorum; and afterwards by adjournment (to wit), at Spalding, in and for the said parts, on the 21st day of the said month of October, in the fifth year of the reign aforesaid, before the reverend William Moore, clerk, and the reverend Maurice Johnson, doctor in divinity, and other their fellows; also the justices of our said lord the king, assigned to keep the peace of our said lord the king within the parts of Holland aforesaid, and also to hear and determine as aforesaid, within the said parts in the said county, and one of whom is also of the quorum. The justices of the peace here assembled having taken into consideration the provisions of the act 4 Geo. IV., c. 64, intituled, “An act "for consolidating and amending the laws re"lating to the building, repairing, and regu"lating of certain gaols and houses of cor"rection in England and Wales," and of the several amended acts as relates to the present house of correction at Spalding, in the parts of Holland, in the county of Lincoln, report, that the house of correction now building at Spalding, conformable to the directions of the act, is in a state of forwardness, and will most probably be completed the early part of next year; and that, from the insufficiency of the present house of correction at Spalding for the extended classification required by the acts, the justices are unable, as stated in the report of last year, to proceed in carrying the acts into effect. . By the court, (Signed) FRA. THIRKILL, Clerk of the peace for the said parts. No. 29.-MERIONETHSHIRE. Dolgelly, 31st December, 1824. Sir,-No report was made to the Michaelmas, or any preceding quarter-session for the county of Merioneth, of the state of the gaol, by the visiting magistrates, to enable me, as clerk of the peace, to prepare a general one, founded on the report of the visiting justices, the chaplain, and the certificate of the keeper of the county gael, pusuant to the fourth of the king, c. 64, s. 24. No general report could be prepared by me, or submitted to the justices assembled at the last quarter, for their approbation, and therefore I am still unable to send the report required. I enclose a copy of the gaoler's schedule, which (if I could) should have been accompanied by the general report. No. 30.-MIDDLESEX. 1824.-The Annual Report of the Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex to the Secretary of State, relative to the House of Correction, Cold Bath Fields, and the New Prison, Clerkenwell. A true copy and correct account of the proceedings of the justices of the peace for the county of Middlesex, for carrying into effect the act of parliament made iu the fourth year of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, "An Act for "consolidating and amending the laws "relating to the building, repairing, and regulating of certain gaols and houses "of correction in England and Wales;" and also another act of parliament, made in the fifth year of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, "An act for "amending an Act of the last session of "Parliament, relating to the building, re"pairing, and enlarging of certain gaols "and houses of correction, and for pro"curing information as to the state of "all other gaols and houses of correc"tion in England and Wales." That there had been established, and was existing, before the time of passing of the act of the fourth year of the reign of his present majesty, intituled, " An act for consolidating and amending the laws relating to the building, repairing, and regulating of certain gaols and "houses of correction in England and Wales," (independent of his majesty's gaol of Newgate, and the house of correction for the city and liberty of Westminster,) a house of correction situate in Cold Bath Fields, and a prison, called the New Prison, Clerkenwell, under the management and direction of the justices of the peace for the said county of Middlesex. That the number of prisoners now confined in the said house of correction is four hundred and sixty; and in the new prison, one hundred and ninety-four prisoners. That the said house of correction not being deemed by the justices assembled at their general quarter-session sufficient for the extended classification required by the said act, the same has been presented by two justices, and the court directed plans on a more extensive scale to be prepared, with a separation for the female prisoners distinct from the male prisoners, and the same is now under their consideration. That, in the interim, on account of the great number of vagrants being committed, temporary A petition has been presented to the privy buildings have been made within the boundary council from the magistrates at the last quarter-wall of the house of correction for their accomsessions, pursuant to the 5th of the king, c. 85, modation. s. 11, praying a dispensation with all, or some of the wards or accommodations required by the I am, sir, act. That a boundary wall is now building around the county-ground behind the house of correc tion in Cold Bath Fields, to facilitate the erection of any additional buildings or alterations which may be found necessary. That a tread-wheel had been erected in the eight yards of the prison, for the employment of A matron, appointed by the justices That the prisoners in the new prison, being committed there previous to their trials, and not being under sentence, are employed in such occupations as present themselves within the said prison. That two chaplains have been appointed, one for each prison, to do the duties, conformable to the act of parliament. The chaplains of the house of correction and new prison reported, that the prisoners have uniformly conducted themselves with attention and propriety during divine service, and that the boys are making progress in reading, and in their catechisms. They further state, that the prisoners generally appear in a progressive state of improvement, as far as the time of their continuance there will allow. That the following is a true and correct state ment of the establishment of officers and servants employed in the house of correction, Cold Bath Fields, with the numbers and descriptions of such officers and servants, the salaries and emoluments of each, and by whom such officers and servants are respectively appointed : The chaplain, appointed by the justices in session, at a salary of . . A surgeon at 150l. with a gratuity Per annum. 200 0 0 of 50%. The governor is appointed by the justices in session, at a salary of 4001, per annum, without any other perquisites or emoluments. 400 0 0 The clerk of the said house of correction is appointed also by the said justices in sessions, at a salary of 1551. per annum, without other emolument or perquisites, with a gratuity of 50%. The storekeeper is also appointed by the said justices, at a salary of 21. 28. per week, without other emoluments or perquisite The head turnkey is allowed 27. per week in session, at a salary of 1507. per annum, without other emoluments or perquisites . . Two female turnkeys, appointed by the visiting justices, at a salary of 20s. per week each, without other emoluments or perquisites A portress is allowed 12s. per week 31 4 0 A schoolmaster and a schoolmistress are se 104 0 0 lected from the most able and deserving of the prisoners, and are rewarded according to their merits and the length of their services. That the following is a true and correct statement of the establishment of officers and servants employed in the new prison, Clerken. well, with the numbers and description of such officers and servants, the salaries and emolu. The clerk of the new prison is ap- . 200 0 0 The head turnkey is allowed 30s. . 400 0 0 155 0 0 78 0 0 65 0 0 65 0 0 Torrington Square; W. Ballantine, Thames Police Office, Wapping; Wm. Bird, Howland Street; Jno. Ed. Conant, Public Office, Marlborough Street; Wm. Flower, Upper Bedford Place; Sam. Hoare, junior, Hampstead Heath; Sam. Everingham Sketchley, Phillimore Place, Kensington; Geo. Saunders, Oxford Street; Nicholas Tomlinson, Dorset Square; and Wm. Wix, esquires, Islington. That the surgeon appointed to each of the said prisons attends the same daily, to visit the prisoners, and to report to the visiting justices the state of the health of the prisoners, &c. That there are two infirmaries in each prison for the men, and two in each prison for females, one of which in each is appropriated in each division to the sick, and one for the convalescent. That there is subjoined hereto the state of the house of correction and the new prison, agreeable to the form prescribed in the said act by the schedule (B). FRS. CONST, chairman. House of Correction, Cold Bath Fields, November 25th, 1824. No. 31.-MONMOUTHSHIRE. County of Monmouth. At the General QuarterSessions of the Peace of Our Sovereign Lord the King, holden at the Town-Hall in Usk, for the County aforesaid, on Monday in the week next after the Feast of St. Michael, the Archangel, in the fifth year of the reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Fourth, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; before William Taddy, esq., Serjeant at Law, Chairman; Granville Charles Henry Somerset, commonly called Lord Granville Charles Henry Somerset, and others their Fellows, his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the said County. The several reports of the respective visiting justices, the respective chaplains, and the respective keepers of the gaol and the house of correction, in this county, made in pursuance of the 22d, 23d, and 34th sections of the act 4th Geo. IV. c. 64, having been respectively taken into consideration by the justices here assembled, the said justices have approved thereof, and are of opinion that the provisions of the said act have been carried into effect to as great an extent as the time elapsed since its enactment has permitted; and that measures have also been adopted for a further compliance with its pro jesty's reign, intituled, "An Act for con"solidating and amending the Laws relating to the building, repairing, and regulating "of certain Gaols and Houses of Correction " in England and Wales." Copy of the visiting justices' report. Montgomery, Michaelmas quarter-sessions, 1824. We have the satisfaction of reporting, that the prisoners have in general enjoyed a good state of health, and that their conduct has been orderly. The prisoners in the house of correction, who have been sentenced to hard labour, have been employed in breaking stone as usual. No alterations have been made either in the gaol or house of correction, and we abstain at present from suggesting any, as that will come more immediately before the committee we recommend the court to appoint. We beg leave to call the attention of the court to the statute of the 5th Geo. IV. c. 85, s. 11, and recommend that a committee be appointed to prepare a petition to the lords of his majesty's privy council, according to the provisions in that section. We also call the attention of the court to the gaoler's report, and the 8th section of the same act, and the schedule (B) alluded to in c. 64 of 4 Geo. IV. The present gaol consists of convenient apartments for the gaoler, with a chapel and infirmary, together with the following accommodations for the prisoners, viz. 1st. A court for debtors; a day-room and eight airy lodging-rooms on the male side, with two on the female side, unconnected with the former. 2d. A court for male criminals; a day-room, six cells, and two airy lodging-rooms. 3d. A court for female criminals; a day-room, one cell, and two airy lodging-rooms. (Signed) WILLIAM OWEN, Chairman of the said quarter-sessions. No. 33.-NORFOLK. The General Report of the Justices of the Peace for the County of Norfolk, assembled at the General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace, held for the said County, at the Castle of Norwich, in the Shire-house there, on the 20th day of October, 1824, and which Report is made in pursuance of the Act of Parliament 4th Geo. IV. c. 64. The justices of the peace for this county having, in the year 1821, approved of a plan for a new gaol, house of correction, and shirehouse, to be built in pursuance of an act of parliament then lately obtained for that purpose, and having resolved to carry that plan into immediate effect to a certain extent, with a view to its completion at a future period, the work was begun accordingly, and has been carried on with all possible expedition: and at the quartersession held in January last, the justices then assembled being of opinion that the provisions of the late acts of parliament respecting prisons could not be complied with in the new gaol until the whole of the plan before approved should be executed, that the relinquishment of any part of an effective system of prison discipline would be very inadequately compensated to the public by any saving that could be effected by delaying the completion of the plan, and that uniformity in the materials and execution of the buildings, and ultimate economy, would be best consulted by such completion by the persons engaged in the parts then in progress, it was resolved, that the whole plan should be carried into immediate effect, and that the sum necessary for that purpose should be raised without borrowing any money under the authority of the act of the 4th Geo. IV. c. 64. In consequence of the unfinished state of the buildings, the county gaol has, since our former report, been appropriated almost exclusively to the confinement of debtors. Section of the Act of Parliament 4 Geo. IV. c. 64. As to the visiting justices. The visiting justices have made their report at each quarter-sessions of the peace; and it appears therefrom that every thing during the last year has been conducted within the gaol and house of correction with regularity, and without complaint. That the employment of prisoners în grind. ing corn by a crank-mill, which is employed in this gaol, and baking, has in each quarter yielded a profit to the county. That the employment of the prisoners in wire-work has also yielded a small profit. That one untried prisoner having declined to work at the mill, no attempt was made to persuade him to do so. That most of the prisoners have voluntarily engaged to dress flour, and do sundry other works. As to the chaplain. It appears from the report of the chaplain, that the liturgy of the Church of England has been read in the chapel of the gaol every Sunday morning and evening, in its respectively appointed parts, also on Christmas-day and Good Friday; that the sacrament has been adminis It appears to this court by the report of the justices appointed visitors of the house of correction at Aylsham, that its construction is in all respects defective, and that there is no em-tered on the great festivals, and at other times, ployment for the male prisoners except grinding corn by a hand-mill, which is supposed to require an exertion too severe for those who are not sentenced to hard labour, and not sufficiently so for those on whom such a sentence has been passed. It appears by the reports of the justices appointed to be visitors of the house of correction at Swaffham, that the tread-wheel there has been in operation upwards of a year; that they consider it the properest prison-labour that has ever been adopted; and that it is in no respect whatever injurious to the health of prisoners, but rather conducive to it, as the prisoners there have never enjoyed such general good health as they have since its introduction. And it appears to this court by the reports and certificates, delivered in pursuance of the said act of the 4th Geo. IV. c. 64, that the directions therein respecting the classification of prisoners have been complied with in the several houses of correction in this county, as far as the state of the buildings will admit; that the health of the prisoners has been generally good, and their conduct quiet and orderly; and that the duties of all the officers of the several prisons have been satisfactorily performed. CHARLES SAVILL ONLEY, chairman. No. 34.-NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. as occasion required; that each yard has been supplied with Bibles and Testaments, and occasionally with other religious books; that religi. ous instructions have been privately given to all willing prisoners; and that the ignorant, as far as has been practicable, have been taught to read. As to the jailor's report. A copy of the return, by the jailor, of the state of the prison, as required to be made by him by the 22d section of the before-mentioned act of parliament, is hereunto annexed; and it appears from his reports, that the state and condition of the gaol and house of correction is satisfactory, and that the classification, as required by the act, has been duly observed and attended to. SPENCER, chairman. No. 35.-NORTHUMBERLAND. The Report of Robert Thorp, Clerk of the Peace for the County of Northumberland, to his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the said County, assembled at the Michaelmas General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace, holden at Alnwick, in and for the said County Northumberland, the 21st day of October, 1824. Whereas, by an act of parliament made and passed in the fourth year of the reign of his present majesty, intituled," an act for consob→ The Report of the Justices assembled at the dating and amending the laws relating to the Michaelmas Quarter-Sessions of the Peace for building, repairing, and regulating of certars the County of Northampton, under the 24th" gaols and houses of correction in England and " "Wales," the clerks of the peace are directed felony, viz., three males and one female; that one of the males is insane, and ordered to be continued in custody on that account; and also a boy, under conviction of a magistrate, for six months, or until he pays a penalty of ten pounds; that there is one person under commitment for trial in the said gaol on a charge of felony; and further, that the prisoners have behaved themselves in an orderly manner during the last year, so that no punishments have been inflicted by order of the visiting justices or himself, except in the case of one male prisoner, put in irons for attempting to escape; and that no cases of extreme sickness have occurred, but one case of sudden death in the course of the year. From the certificate delivered in at the sessions by the keeper of the house of correction at Hexham, it appears that this prison was until lately in a very insufficient and unsafe state for the purposes of health, security, and classification of the prisoners confined therein; but that the same has been enlarged, and is now divided into three distinct classes, viz. males, females, and boys. That there are two wards or rooms attached to the class for males, two wards or rooms for the female class, and one room for the boys' class, with an airing yard attached to each class; that in addition to which there is a room where vagrants are usually confined, but no airing yard attached thereto; that there is at present no prisoner whatever confined within the walls of this prison; and that the prisoners who have during the year been confined therein have conducted themselves in an orderly manner, to the satisfaction of the visiting justices and of the said keeper. With regard to the house of correction at Alnwick, it appears from the certificate of the keeper thereof, that this building is now, and for many years past hath been, of such a construction as to render the whole of the classifications and other rules and regulations required by the act of parliament, passed in the fourth year of the reign of his present majesty, for regulating gaols and houses of correction, impracticable; and that the same is only capable of being divided into two distinct classes, one for males and the other for females, and that such classification consists as follows, viz. two day rooms and six sleeping cells; that there are only two rooms appropriated to the use of the keeper and family, viz. a kitchen and a very small sitting room. That there is a large room up stairs, which is solely used for the justice meetings of that district; that there is attached to this prison two airing yards, but that the walls being so low the keeper is afraid of allowing the prisoners to be alone therein, lest an escape should take place. That an intended alteration is to take place in this prison immediately; that the plan is drawn and approved, and the contract for the execution of the work signed. That there are at present confined within the said house of correction five prisoners, viz. three for misdemeanor and two for felony and also |