Building    From 1813  To 1870

Whitecross Debtors' Prison

Categories: Law

This was on the southern most section of Whitecross Street, immediately north of St Giles Cripplegate, considerably further south than the plaque location. Designed by William Montague and built in 1813 to take the debtors who had previously been mixed with the criminal population in Newgate Prison. Whitecross was built to hold 500 prisoners. The Debtors' Act of 1869 stopped people being imprisoned for debt so by 1870 all the prisoners were transferred to the new Holloway Prison and the Whitecross Prison was closed. In 1876 the Midland Railway built a goods yard on the site.  Destroyed in WW2 and redeveloped as part of the Barbican.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Whitecross Debtors' Prison

Commemorated ati

Whitecross Debtors' Prison

Whitecross Debtors' Prison, 1813 - 1870 Warm-hearted Nell Gwynne, in her will...

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Other Subjects

Viscount Cecil of Chelwood

Viscount Cecil of Chelwood

Politician and peace maker. Born Robert Cecil at 11 Duchess Street, Portland Place. Son of the Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury. He practised civil law for several years before entering pa...

Person, Law, Peace, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
King's Bench Prison

King's Bench Prison

Established in medieval times as a place to hold prisoners of the King's Bench court, primarily debtors. It was originally sited in Angel Place, off Borough High Street, just north of what is now J...

Place, Law

1 memorial
Lieutenant Commander James Dawbarn Young, R.N.V.R.

Lieutenant Commander James Dawbarn Young, R.N.V.R.

Qualified as surveyor and then as a lawyer.  Public spirited and worked with the Claremont Central Mission (we think this was a nationwide religious charitable organisation working with young peopl...

Person, Armed Forces, Law, Property, Belgium

War dead, WW1
3 memorials
E. E. Woods

E. E. Woods

Alderman in the Borough of Hammersmith in 1948. Our colleague Andrew Behan has researched this man (and found the wonderful photo) : Edward Ernest Woods was born on 13 February 1896 in Chelsea, th...

Person, Law, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
transportation to Australia

transportation to Australia

One of the (many) supposed origins of the word 'pom' for an Englishman, is that convicts were branded with the initials of 'Prisoner of Millbank'.

Event, Law, Transport, Australia

5 memorials

Previously viewed

William Booth College - 1

William Booth College - 1

SE5, Champion Park, William Booth Memorial Training College

The plaque is in the entrance porch of the building.

1 subject commemorated, 4 creators
Leonard Woolf's Ceylon

Leonard Woolf's Ceylon

WC1, Tavistock Square Gardens

We have not followed all the various Sri Lankan lines of research opened up by the rather exotic text on this plaque. The importance of L...

4 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Eliza Eleanor Tarbox

Eliza Eleanor Tarbox

Drowned in the 1898 HMS Albion disaster, aged 64. Buried in grave 4 at the memorial in East London Cemetery.

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial
Robert McCurrey

Robert McCurrey

Son of James & Margaret McCurrey. Left a legacy towards the cost of the hall for the Chelsea Temperance Society.  See his parents' page for some more info.

Person, Benefactor

1 memorial
Herbert Howells

Herbert Howells

Composer. Born Herbert Norman Howells at High Street, Lydney, Gloucestershire. He studied under Charles Stanford at the Royal College of Music and succeeded Gustav Holst as director of music at St ...

Person, Education, Music / songs

1 memorial