Lincoln gaol

Question 1

Why was Lincoln Castle ideal as a prison

Answer 1

The nature of a castle - high walls and gates

Question 2

What criminals were kept in Lincoln Gaol

Answer 2

Mainly debtors

Question 3

Why was a new prison constructed in the castle in 1787 (called the Georgian Prison)

Answer 3

Because John Howard was shocked at the conditions and included it in his State of Prisons book (bad sanitation, genders mixing)

Question 4

Who was treated more leniently in the Georgian Prison

Answer 4

Debtors - they had rooms looking onto the castle grounds at the front of the building

Question 5

What was added to the Georgian Prison in 1820

Answer 5

A new debtors yard next to the separate exercise yards for males and females

Question 6

Where were prisoners held before their trials since it was built

Answer 6

The Victorian Prison (an H shaped building)

Question 7

What was the system in the Victorian prison

Answer 7

It was a separate system prison - the prisoners couldn’t talk to anyone other than the prison chaplain

Question 8

What were some teething problems with the Victorian Prison when it was first built

Answer 8

The hot air blowing through the prison may have been responsible for a typhoid outbreak in 1851 and the sewers got blocked

Question 9

Where did executions at Lincoln Castle originally take place

Answer 9

Outside the castle walls on Burton Road

Question 10

How many would come to executions

Answer 10

As many as 15000

Question 11

What was the new form of hanging and area set up inside the castle

Answer 11

The Cobb Hall Gallows had the short drop - seen as more humane as there was a trap door underneath the persons feet so death might be quicker

Question 12

What did most prisons not have for executions

Answer 12

Their own hangman - it was common for convicted criminals to be used as executioners

Question 13

What was the way of hanging developed after the short drop which Lincoln Castle was the first to use

Answer 13

The long drop - the persons height and weight would be measured to figure out the most effective hanging

Question 14

Where did hangings take place after public hangings were banned in 1868

Answer 14

Inside Cobb Hall with only journalists present

Question 15

What prison was built in Lincoln after the Lincoln Castle Prison was closed down

Answer 15

HMP Lincoln on Greetwell Road

Question 16

When was Lincoln’s Victorian Prison closed

Answer 16

1878

Question 17

Who were some of the most notorious prisoners held in Lincoln Castle County Gaol

Answer 17

The Witches of Belvoir

Question 18

What were John Howard’s criticisms on the conditions for the prisoners in Lincoln Castle Gaol

Answer 18

He said that none of the rooms or court had fresh water or sewage and there wasn’t a chapel or an infirmary

Question 19

Why was Lincoln’s Victorian Prison never able to completely implement the separate system

Answer 19

Concerns on the effect on mental health
There was often so many inmates that separating them all would be impossible
Magistrates were also reluctant to enforce it

Question 20

Why did the gaol close

Answer 20

It was becoming too expensive to run

Question 21

What did the 1823 Gaols Act say

Answer 21

Prisons should be made secure, gaolers should be paid, genders should be separate, doctors and chaplains should visit and try to reform inmates

Question 22

What was the Victorian Prison built as a result of

Answer 22

The 1839 Prison Act

Question 23

Which act was one of the reasons why the Victorian Prisons population dropped in the 1870s

Answer 23

The 1869 Debtors Act which limited the ability of courts to give a prison sentence to debtors