How effective were the prison reforms of the
nineteenth century ?
What disease was spread in industrial Britain due to
contaminated water ? - Cholera
What caused the poor living conditions in Industrial Britain ? -
The growth of population led to not enough housing
A Debtors prison
Historical Discipline: Historical interpretations are historians
opinions of the past
Interpretation A. The Victorian City by Judith Flanders
p174-176 (published by Atlantic books in 2012)
As well as convict prisons , debtors' prisons were common
features of Victorian England. Those who could not pay what
they owed were imprisoned until their debts were met. When
the debtors' creditors decided that they had no option but the
law, a writ of execution was put in place and the debtor was
arrested. He or she was then taken to a ‘sponging house’,
so-called for its ability to squeeze money out of debtors. Here
debtors would remain, sometimes forever, until their debt was
paid (either from a relative or through working off their debt with
labour). However, the product of their labour went towards both
the costs of their incarceration ( being locked up ) and their
accrued ( increasing debt )debt.
What is a debtors' prison ? - A debtors' prison is a prison for
those who can’t pay off their debt .
nineteenth century ?
What disease was spread in industrial Britain due to
contaminated water ? - Cholera
What caused the poor living conditions in Industrial Britain ? -
The growth of population led to not enough housing
A Debtors prison
Historical Discipline: Historical interpretations are historians
opinions of the past
Interpretation A. The Victorian City by Judith Flanders
p174-176 (published by Atlantic books in 2012)
As well as convict prisons , debtors' prisons were common
features of Victorian England. Those who could not pay what
they owed were imprisoned until their debts were met. When
the debtors' creditors decided that they had no option but the
law, a writ of execution was put in place and the debtor was
arrested. He or she was then taken to a ‘sponging house’,
so-called for its ability to squeeze money out of debtors. Here
debtors would remain, sometimes forever, until their debt was
paid (either from a relative or through working off their debt with
labour). However, the product of their labour went towards both
the costs of their incarceration ( being locked up ) and their
accrued ( increasing debt )debt.
What is a debtors' prison ? - A debtors' prison is a prison for
those who can’t pay off their debt .
