Maidstone Town Gaol

Overview

Details

Records

Overview

Prison Type   Local Prison -  Common Gaol

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   1763

Date closed   c1827

Location   town hall, High Street   Maidstone

Map location   exact or closely approximate

County   Kent

Critical Remarks

According to the 1835 Royal Commission, Maidstone Town Gaol likely closed in the mid 1820s after a scandal caused by an escaped prisoner.

Prison Info

Prison Type   Local Prison

Jurisdiction   Municipality

Date opened   1763

Date closed   c1827

Location   town hall, High Street   Maidstone

Map location   exact or closely approximate
Lat.   51.2735329  Long.   0.5223592

County   Kent

Critical Remarks

According to the 1835 Royal Commission, Maidstone Town Gaol likely closed in the mid 1820s after a scandal caused by an escaped prisoner.

Prisoner Statistics

 

Year 1818

Annual Committed   -   61

Daily Greatest number   -   12

Principal Primary Sources

  • Account of Gaols, Houses of Correction or Penitentiaries in the United Kingdom, 1818 (Parl. Papers, 1819, XVII.371), p.24
  • [Second] Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1820), 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.34; Fourth Report of the Committee of the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and for the Reformation of Juvenile Offenders (London, 1822), Appendix, p.28; 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.53
  • Royal Commission of Inquiry into Municipal Corporations of England and Wales, First Report, Appendices: Part 2 (Parl. Papers, 1835, XXIII.133), p.765

Secondary Sources

  • http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-459-1/dissemination/pdf/Maidstone.pdf

Management

Archive name: Kent History & Library Centre

Catalogue ref: Md/JQg/12

Collection: Maidstone Borough

Description: Gaol correspondence

Dates: 1823-1835


Archive name: Kent History & Library Centre

Catalogue ref: Md/JQg/6

Collection: Maidstone Borough

Description: Warrants to transfer prisoners from borough to county custody, but no physical transfer ever occurred. (County prisoners held in borough gaol)

Dates: 1791-1825


Archive name: Kent History & Library Centre

Catalogue ref: Md/JQg/7

Collection: Maidstone Borough

Description: Agreement between the Borough and the County Justices concerning the maintenance of prisoners removed from Borough to County Custody

Dates: 1830