Fleet Prison

Fleet Prison, a celebrated London gaol, which stood on the east side of Farrington Street, on what was formerly called Fleet Market. The keeper of it was called the Warden of the Fleet. It derived its name from the Fleet rivulet (A.S. flēot, 'a bay'; afterwards applied to any shallow stream where small craft could float), which flowed into the Thames. The Fleet was the king's prison so far back as the 12th century. In the 16th century it acquired a high historical interest from its having been the prison of the religious martyrs of the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth; and the victims of the Star Chamber were confined here in the reign of Charles I., and numbers of Puritans in that of his son. Afterwards it became a place of confinement for debtors and persons committed for contempt from the Courts of Chancery, Exchequer, and Common Pleas. During the 18th century it was the scene of every kind of atrocity and brutality, from the extortion of the keepers and the custom of allowing the warden to underlet it. The Fleet was several times rebuilt; the last building was erected after the burning of the older one in the Gordon riots of 1780, the predecessor of which had been destroyed in the great fire of London in 1666. In 1776 Howard found here 243 prisoners, their wives and children numbering 475; there were also 78 outdoor détenus for debt, privileged to live within the 'rules.' In 1830-34 the annual number confined in the Fleet for debt ranged from 700 to 884. The prison was abolished in 1842, and the debtors transferred to the Queen's Bench, under the new name of the Queen's Prison. The buildings were demolished in 1845-46, and part of the site is now occupied by the Congregational Memorial Hall.