Boston Gaol and House of Correction

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Alternative Names   Boston Borough Gaol, Boston House of Correction

Prison Type   Local Prison -  House of Correction/Bridewell

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   1818

Date closed   1851

Location   St John's Road, east side of River Witham   Boston

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Lincolnshire

Critical Remarks

Originally Boston Borough Gaol, in 1837 a contract between the county and municipal authorities allowed the prison to also be used as a county House of Correction, enabling the county authorities to close the Skirbeck House of Correction (ID 48).

Prison Info

Alternative Names   Boston Borough Gaol, Boston House of Correction

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   1818

Date closed   1851

Location   St John's Road, east side of River Witham   Boston

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   52.9724073  Long.   -0.0216561

County   Lincolnshire

Critical Remarks

Originally Boston Borough Gaol, in 1837 a contract between the county and municipal authorities allowed the prison to also be used as a county House of Correction, enabling the county authorities to close the Skirbeck House of Correction (ID 48).

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   207

Daily Greatest number   -   16

 

Year 1828

Annual Committed   -   239

Daily Census   -   239

 

Year 1832

Annual Committed   -   249

Daily Greatest number   -   29

 

Year 1833

Annual Committed   -   111

Daily Census   -   18

 

Year 1838

Annual Confined   -   105

Daily Census   -   12

 

Year 1843

Annual Confined   -   363

Daily Census   -   34

 

Year 1848

Annual Confined   -   254

Daily Daily average   -   25

Principal Primary Sources

  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.28
  • The Third Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1821), Appendix, p.47; Sixth Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1824), Appendix, p.73; Eighth Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1832), Appendix, p.25
  • Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1833, XXVIII.1), p.159; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1834, XLVI.1), p.149; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1835, XLIV.225), p.147; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1836, XLII.1), p.96; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1839, XXXVIII.17), p.97; Reports Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXXVIII.1), p.107; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1841, XVIII.1), p.111; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1842, XXXII.1), p.113; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1843, XLIII.1), p.116; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1844, XXXIX.403), p.115; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1845, XXXVII.417), p.137; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1846, XXXIV.187), p.131; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1847, XLVII.297), p.143; Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (Parl. Papers, 1847-48, LII.465), p.144
  • Reports and Schedules Pursuant to Gaol Acts (1829, XIX.401), p.73
  • Return of Places of Confinement Outside Gaol Acts in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1833, XXVIII.425), p.14
  • Royal Commission of Inquiry into Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, First Report, Appendices: Part 4 (Parl. Papers, 1835, XXV.1), p.2157
  • Abstract Return of Establishment and Expenditure of Gaols and Houses of Correction in England and Wales (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXXVIII.241), p.30
  • Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern, Third Report (Parl. Papers, 1837-38, XXXI.1), p.80; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Fifth Report (Parl. Papers, 1840, XXV.565), p.37; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Seventh Report (Parl. Papers, 1842, XXI.1), p.121; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Ninth Report (Parl. Papers, 1844, XXIX.227), p.69; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Midland and Eastern District, Fourteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1849, XXVI.1), p.6; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Fifteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1850, XXVIII.291), p.133; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Sixteenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1851, XXVII.461), p.102; Inspectors of Prisons of Great Britain II. Northern and Eastern District, Seventeenth Report (Parl. Papers, 1852-53, LII.1), p.50

Additional Primary Sources

  • William White, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire (Sheffield, 1856), p. 290

Secondary Sources

  • http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1098085&sort=4&search=all&criteria=boston,%20lincolnshire&rational=q&recordsperpage=60&p=1&move=p&nor=584&recfc=0

Management

Archive name: Lincolnshire Archives

Catalogue ref: HQS/B/5/10

Collection: Holland Quarter Sessions

Description: Correspondence, rules, case and opinion, re the use of Boston goal for county purposes

Dates: 1836-1850


Archive name: Lincolnshire Archives

Catalogue ref: HQS/B/5/10

Collection: Holland Quarter Sessions

Description: Memoranda, inventories, appointments and contracts, Boston and Skirbeck goals

Dates: 1837-1839


Archive name: Lincolnshire Archives

Catalogue ref: HQS/B/5/10

Collection: Holland Quarter Sessions

Description: Correspondence etc about application for separate Boston quarter sessions and the use of Boston gaol for county purposes 1842-47

Dates: 1842-1847


Archive name: Lincolnshire Archives

Catalogue ref: HQS/B/5/10

Collection: Holland Quarter Sessions

Description: Returns by visiting justices, gaolers, to Secretary of State about prisoners and expenses of gaols, Spalding, Boston, Skirbeck

Dates: 1835-1842


Prisoners

Archive name: Lincolnshire Archives

Catalogue ref: BB/3/A/3/1-2

Collection: Boston Borough Quarter Sessions

Description: Gaolers' returns of prisoners

Dates: 1827-1834


Archive name: Lincolnshire Archives

Catalogue ref: BB/3/A/2/1

Collection: Boston Borough Quarter Sessions

Description: Judicial records include some returns of prisoners in Boston Gaol

Dates: 1807-1830


Land & Buildings

Archive name: Lincolnshire Archives

Catalogue ref: HQS/B/5/1

Collection: Holland Quarter Sessions

Description: Inventory of furniture, Boston House of Correction

Dates: 1851