NEN Gallery

Until 1970 it was technically possible to be imprisoned for being in debt and unable to pay. During the 18th and early 19th centuries more than half of all prisoners were debtors. In some places, e.g. the Fleet in London, there were held in separate prisons but often they were held with other prisoners in appalling conditions. They were not there awaiting sentence but locked up until the debt was paid. They were released if they could find someone to pay their debts. Until the law changed in 1815, debtors could be worse off after a few years in prison than when they entered. Having no money had brought them to prison in the first place; having to pay for their keep put them farther into debt. The small amounts that they could earn in prison were usually not enough to cover their keep. Sometimes they were treated very cruelly.