Bideford Town Gaol and House of Correction

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Prison Type   Local Prison -  Common Gaol

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   1831

Date closed   c1854

Location   part of workhouse, Colonial Buildings, Barnstaple Street   Bideford

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Devon

Critical Remarks

From 1831, the Colonial Buildings were used as part workhouse, part prison. According to the prison inspectors, the prison was abolished by 1854.

Prison Info

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   1831

Date closed   c1854

Location   part of workhouse, Colonial Buildings, Barnstaple Street   Bideford

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   51.0161967  Long.   -4.2031444

County   Devon

Critical Remarks

From 1831, the Colonial Buildings were used as part workhouse, part prison. According to the prison inspectors, the prison was abolished by 1854.

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1832

Annual Committed   -   15

Daily Greatest number   -   6

 

Year 1838

Annual Confined   -   22

Daily Census   -   4

 

Year 1843

Annual Confined   -   20

Daily Census   -   0

 

Year 1848

Annual Confined   -   13

Daily Daily average   -   0

Principal Primary Sources

  • Royal Commission of Inquiry into Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, First Report, Appendices: Part 1 (Parl. Papers, 1835, XXIII.1), p.439
  • Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain I. Home District, Second Report (Parl. Papers, 1837, XXXII.1), p.40; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Second Report (Parl. Papers, 1837, XXXII.659), p.36; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Fourth Report (Parl. Papers, 1839, XXII.217), p.21; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Ninth Report (Parl. Papers, 1844, XXIX.391), p.114; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Eleventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1846, XXI.565), p.460; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Twelfth Report (Parl. Papers, 1847-8, XXXV.1), p.103; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Thirteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1847-8, XXXVI.133), p.74; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Fourteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1849, XXVI.93), p.52; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Sixteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1851, XXVII.669), p.148; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Eighteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1852-53, LII.113), p.49; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain III. Southern and Western District, Twentieth Report (Parl. Papers, 1854-55, XXVI.1), p.84

Secondary Sources

  • Inkerman Rogers, A Concise History of Bideford (Bideford, 1938), p. 31.

Management

Archive name: North Devon Record Office

Catalogue ref: 1064Q/SQ/4-6

Collection: Bideford Court of Quarter Sessions

Description: Order Books. These are likely to contain material relevant to the administration of the Bideford prisons, especially the town gaol

Dates: 1787-1888


Prisoners

Archive name: North Devon Record Office

Catalogue ref: 1064Q/SC/1

Collection: Bideford Court of Quarter Sessions

Description: Prison register

Dates: 1838-1852


Land & Buildings

Archive name: North Devon Record Office

Catalogue ref: 2379A/0/Z/38/57b

Collection: None

Description: Leases and tenancy agreements Bideford Town Council and others, and prison cells

Dates: 1892-1922