Debtor’s prisons first appeared in the medieval period, sometime in the 14th century. As the name would suggest, they were built for those who did nor or were unable to pay back debt. The earliest kinds of debtor’s prisons were single rooms, sparsely furnished in appalling conditions. A person could spend their entire lives within the prison due to unpaid debts or find themselves forced into indentured servitude until the labour paid for the debt.
Conditions in the 18th and 19th centuries did not improve; however certain liberties were allowed for prisoners who had a little money. Marriages, their own room, cooked food, almost any luxury or allowance could be bought. For those who could not, cramped conditions, filthy floors and starvation awaited. Indeed, it was not unheard of for prisoners to exit with less than what they arrived with; unable to pay the prison garnish, a sort of criminal toll, even the very clothes from their back could be forfeit. All the while an inmate remained in a debtor’s prison, his debt accrued, and moreover as the prisons were privately owned, a prisoner also had to pay for bed and board, even if none was provided. In order to gain a release from such an institution, an inmate must either work through the debt with labour provided inside, through alms given by charitable passers-by or by securing funds from friends, family or an aid society.
Debtors prisons were a frequent trope in Victorian literature as many influential authors spent time or had relatives interred in them, from Daniel Defoe to Charles Dicken’s father. The latter having a large impact on his written works and leading to tales such as Little Dorrit.
The 1869 Debtors Act brought an end to debtors’ prisons in the UK. Whilst it is still possible to be imprisoned for unpaid debts or fines nowadays, this is seen as a last resort and, should the worse arise, the prisons are regulated by the government and are in a far more bearable condition, than their Victorian forbears.
| Name | Alias | Location | Active |
| Beverley, Hall-Garth for Debtors | Beverley Manor Gaol | Beverley | |
| Birmingham Court Prison for Debtor’s only | Birmingham Court Prison for Debtor’s only | Birmingham | |
| Dover Castle for the Cinque-Port Debtors Only | Dover Castle for the Cinque-Port Debtors Only | Dover | |
| Exeter Sheriff’s Ward County Prison for Debtors | Exeter Sheriff’s Ward County Prison for Debtors | Exeter | |
| Fleet Prison for Debtors and Contempt of Court | Fleet Prison for Debtors and Contempt of Court | Fleet | |
| Lostwithyell or Lestwithiel Gaol for Debtors | Lostwithyell or Lestwithiel Prison for Debtors | Lostwithyell | |
| Nantwich Prison for Debtors | Nantwich Prison for Debtors | Nantwich | |
| Richmond Liberty Gaol for Debtors Only | Richmond Liberty Prison for Debtors Only | Richmond | |
| Rothwell Prison for Debtors only | Rothwell Prison for Debtors only | Rothwell | |
| Saint Briavel’s for Debtors Only | Saint Briavel’s for Debtors Only | Saint Alban’s | |
| Sheffield Debtors’ Gaol | Sheffield Debtors’ Prison | Sheffield | |
| Whitechapel Gaol for Debtors | Whitechapel Prison for Debtors | Whitechapel |
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