Newgate Prison and the Courts
Brief History of Old Bailey:
The first Old Bailey Sessions House was constructed in 1539 adjacent to Newgate Prison.
Destroyed in the Great fire of London 1666, it was rebuilt as an open court in 1674.
Closed in 1734, led to outbreaks of typhus, and resulted in numerous deaths.
It was replaced in 1774 and these Sessions, which exercised criminal jurisdiction over the London area and the adjoining counties, were superseded by the Central Criminal Court in 1834.
Criminal statistics of the 18C portray a society whose laws were enacted by the landed elite and applied by wealthy magistrates and juries of tradesmen that targeted the offences of the poor, allowing the countless offences of nobles, gentry and shopkeepers to go largely unpunished.
Ninety percent of all crimes were non-violent, petty larceny, which included shoplifting, or pick pocketing.
Under English law, any Englishman could prosecute any crime. In practice, the prosecutor was usually the victim. It was up to him to file charges with the local magistrate and present evidence to the grand jury. The death sentence was common even for petty crime but there were ways of reducing this sentence to either branding or transportation by obtaining a PARDON
Transportation as a criminal punishment began on a large scale about 1663 by private merchants. A merchant who wished to transport a felon was required to pay the sheriff “a price per head” that included jail fees, the fees of the clerk & the appropriate court fees for drawing up the pardon, and so on.” After transporting the felon to the New World, the merchant could sell him into indentured servitude for a term depending on his offence. (Moll Flanders transportation to a plantation in Virginia)
Newgate executions held at Tyburn, about three miles away, where a gallows was built in 1571 and referred to as the Triple Tree. Executions were carried out here until 1759. Tyburn is said to be at the exact location of the well-known Marble Arch in London. It often took three hours for the executions procession to complete the three-mile journey due to the crowds that came out to watch and jeer creating a carnival-like atmosphere. (The prisoners rode in a wagon sitting on their coffin)
The Bells of the church of St. Sepulchre (built in 1450), (a church on this site since 1137) rang out the morning of a hanging and they were referred to as the “Bells of Old Bailey”…some of you may be familiar with the nursery rhyme “Oranges and Lemons,” where various bells of London churches are mentioned … “When will you pay me said the Bells of Old Bailey.” . The church of St. Sepulchre still has an” Execution Bell” in a glass case. Newgate got its own bell in 1783.
The present Central Criminal Court, referred to as The Old Bailey, part of which stands on Old Bailey and Newgate Street, recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary, which was attended by Queen Elizabeth 11. It stands on the original site of Newgate Prison. The normal area of jurisdiction today is Greater London, but some serious cases from outside this domain are also heard here.
Statue on the Dome: Lady Justice – a woman holding in her right hand a sword standing for the power to punish and in her left hand, a balance standing for equity.
Inscription above the Old Bailey today:
“Defend the children of the poor and punish the wicked”
