The Fleet. Its Rivers, Prison, and Marriages 34

The Fleet. Its Rivers, Prison, and Marriages 34

The eleventh prayer of this Petition was, "And lastly, that for the

better suppressing Prophaneness and Immorality among us, and that

the Misery of Imprisonment may in some measure be alleviated by the

Observance of good Manners, Cleanliness, and Quietude, we humbly pray

your Lordships would enable us to regulate our selves in such Manner as

the Prisoners in the King's Bench are empowered to do by a Rule of that

Court, 20 _die post festim Sanctæ Trinitatis_. 11 Anne."

 

Huggins replied to all the petition, but his answer to No. 6 was "The

Warden saith, That so soon as the Fees were settled by this Honourable

Court, he caused a Copy thereof to be framed and hung up in the Common

Hall of the House, signed by Sir George Cook; also a Copy of the Rules

and Orders of the House, which said copies the Prisoners were pleased

to burn, tear to Pieces, and obliterate; and the Warden denies that

he has taken or receiv'd, or any for him, to his knowledge, more, or

greater, Fees than were contained in the said Copy of Fees hung up in

the said Prison."

 

And as to the Eleventh prayer of the Petitioners "The Warden saith,

that the Prisoners in general, are so very ungovernable, that they

have tore up the Trees around the Bowling Green, and cut down several

of the Trees in the back part of the Prison, set by the Warden some

years since, for the better Accommodation of the Prisoners; also broke

down the Stocks in the said Prison, and the Houses of Easement were

fitted up lately by the Warden, they have torn it almost to Pieces,

and committed other Outrages, and most of them, altho' two Years in

Arrears of Rent to the Warden, refuse to pay him any Part thereof, and

will by Force, and in defiance of the Warden and his Officers, keep

in Possession of the Rooms and Furnitures, Swearing to stand by each

other."

 

Petition after petition was sent from the Prisoners to the Lord Chief

Justice about the oppressions of Huggins and his myrmidons, and duly

answered in some shape by the Warden, but there was one, in which the

fourteenth Charge is as follows. "That the Warden, on the Death of any

Prisoner detains the Body from his Friends and Relations untill they

will pay him, what Chamber Rent was due from the Deceased; and in the

mean Time his cruel and unchristian like Practice, is to make the best

Bargain he can with the poor Family of the Deceased, for the Purchase

of the Dead Body, in order to give it Christian Burial, at their own

Expence, by which means he often extorts large Sums of Money, for

granting the Relations the Liberty of taking away and burying the Dead

Body; which tho' a very natural and reasonable Desire, is nevertheless

often frustrated by their Inability to purchase it at his Price, and,

rather than accept what may be in their Power to give him, he often

suffers the Dead Body to lye above Ground seven or eight Days, and

often Times eleven or twelve Days, to the great endangering of the

Health of the whole Prison, by the nauseous Stench, which being often

times the Case, is very offensive all over the House; and when he has

refused what he thought not worth his Acceptance, he buries them in the

common Burying place for Prisoners, when the Body is often taken up by

their Friends to be bury'd their own Way, and the Warden seizes to his

own Use the Cloaths, Furniture, and what ever else there is for Fees

and Chamber Rent, which he pretends to be due from the said deceased

Prisoner."

 

Huggins' reply to this was diabolically insolent. "For Answer thereto,

My Lords, the Deputy Warden saith, That scarcely a Prisoner hath

died on the Masters-Side, that was not largely indebted to him; and

therefore, possibly, he might have used endeavours to get what part

of the Money was due to him, as he could fairly from the Deceased's

Relations."

 

But the Cup of his iniquities was rapidly filling. He made one Thomas

Bambridge "_A Newgate Sollicitor, and a Person of abandon'd Credit_"

(as the petition in the case of Mr. Mackphreadris describes him) his

deputy warden, and then, things came to a climax. As we have seen,

Parliament took cognizance of the scandal, and issued a Commission to

inquire into the matter, and their first sitting was on Feb. 25, 1729.

Their report was presented to Parliament on March 20th of the same

year--so that no time was lost in looking into the evils complained of.

 

It recites that Huggins by a gift of £5,000 to Lord Clarendon "did by

his interest, obtain a grant of the said office (_i.e._, _Warden of the

Fleet_) for his own and his son's life.

 

"That it appeared to the Committee, That in the Year 1725, one Mr.

Arne, an Upholder, was carried into a Stable, which stood where the

strong room on the Master's side now is, and was there confined (being

a place of cold restraint) till he died, and that he was in good state

of health before he was confined to that room."

 

Huggins growing old, sold his interest in the Wardenship of the Fleet,

and his Son's reversion therein, to Bambridge and Cuthbert, for the

sum he had originally given for the place; and then Bambridge, being

his own master, went somewhat ahead, and the Committee found that he

connived at escapes, sent his prisoners to Spunging-houses, or private

prisons, not so long ago done away with, where they were well, or badly

treated, according to the money at their disposal.

 

And we read of one shocking case, which can best be given in the very

words of the Report. "That these houses were further used by the said

Bambridge, as a terror for extorting money from the prisoners, who,

on security given, have the liberty of the rules; of which Mr. Robert

Castell was an unhappy instance, a man born to a competent estate, but

being unfortunately plunged into debt, was thrown into prison: he was

first sent (according to custom) to Corbett's,[111] from whence he, by

presents to Bambridge, redeemed himself, and, giving security obtained

the liberty of the rules; notwithstanding which he had frequently

presents, as they are called, exacted from him by Bambridge, and was

menaced, on refusal, to be sent back to Corbett's again.

 

"The said Bambridge having thus unlawfully extorted large sums of money

from him in a very short time, Castell grew weary of being made such a

wretched property, and, resolving not to injure further his family

or his creditors for the sake of so small a liberty, he refused to

submit to further exactions; upon which the said Bambridge ordered him

to be re-committed to Corbett's, where the smallpox then raged, though

Castell acquainted him with his not having had that distemper, and that

he dreaded it so much, that the putting him into a house where it was,

would occasion his death, which, if it happened before he could settle

his affairs, would be a great prejudice to his creditors, and would

expose his family to destitution; and therefore he earnestly desired

that he might either be sent to another house, or even into the gaol

itself, as a favor. The melancholy case of this poor gentleman moved

the very agents of the said Bambridge to compassion, so that they used

their utmost endeavours to dissuade him from sending this unhappy

prisoner to that infected house; but Bambridge forced him thither,

where he (as he feared he should) caught the smallpox, and, in a few

days, died thereof, justly charging the said Bambridge with his death;

and unhappily leaving all his affairs in the greatest confusion, and a

numerous family of small children in the utmost distress."

 

He squeezed everybody, made what rules he liked, and introduced new

and pernicious customs, for, says the Report, "It appeared to the

Committee, that the letting out of the Fleet tenements to Victuallers,

for the reception of Prisoners, hath been but of late practised, and

that the first of them let for this purpose was to Mary Whitwood, who

still continues tenant of the same, and that her rent has, from 32 l.

per. ann. been increased to 60 l. and a certain number of prisoners

stipulated to be made a prey of, to enable her to pay so great a

rent; and that she, to procure the benefit of having such a number of

prisoners sent to her house, hath, over and above the increased rent,

been obliged to make a present to the said Bambridge of forty guineas,

as also of a toy (as it is called), being the model of a Chinese ship,

made of amber, set in silver, for which fourscore broad pieces had been

offered her....

 

"And, notwithstanding the payment of such large fees, in order to

extort further sums from the unfortunate prisoners, the said Bambridge

unjustly pretends he has a right, as warden, to exercise an unlimited

power of changing prisoners from room to room; of turning them into

the common side, though they have paid the master's side fee; and

inflicting arbitrary punishments by locking them down in unwholesome

dungeons, and loading them with torturing irons."

 

According to the Committee's report, Jacob Mendez Solas, a Portuguese,

was, as far as they knew, the first prisoner that was ever loaded

with irons in the Fleet. He was thrown into a noisome dungeon, which

is described as a place "wherein the bodies of persons dying in the

said prison are usually deposited, till the coroner's inquest hath

passed upon them; it has no chimney, nor fireplace, nor any light but

what comes over the door, or through a hole of about eight inches

square. It is neither paved nor boarded, and the rough bricks appear

both on the sides and top, being neither wainscotted, nor plastered;

what adds to the dampness and stench of the place is, its being built

over the common sewer, and adjoining to the sink and dunghill where

all the nastiness of the prison is cast. In this miserable place the

poor wretch was kept by the said Bambridge, manacled and shackled for

near two months. At length, on receiving five guineas from Mr. Kemp,

a friend of Solas Bambridge released the prisoner from his cruel

confinement. But, though his chains were taken off, his terror still

remained, and the unhappy man was prevailed upon by that terror, not

only to labour _gratis_ for the said Bambridge, but to swear also at

random all that he hath required of him: and the Committee themselves

saw an instance of the deep impression his sufferings had made upon

him; for on his surmising, from something said, that Bambridge was to

return again, as Warden of the Fleet, he fainted, and the blood started

out of his mouth and nose."

 

The upshot of this Committee was that the House petitioned the King

to prosecute Huggins, Bambridge, and their satellites, who were all

ordered to be committed to Newgate for trial. Huggins was tried, or

rather the preliminaries of his trial were arranged on the 20th of May,

1729; but his trial for the murder of Edward Arne, a prisoner in the

Fleet prison, by immuring him in the dungeon above described, from the

effect of which confinement he subsequently died, did not take place

until next day. After a long and patient trial, he was acquitted; and

he managed, not only to survive his disgrace, but live to the age of 90.

 

[Illustration: BAMBRIDGE.]

 

Bambridge was also tried, at the Old Bailey, for the murder of Robert

Castell, as before described, but he was acquitted by the Jury. Upon

this acquittal, Castell's widow brought an appeal against Thomas

Bambridge, and Richard Corbett, for the murder of her husband; but here

their luck still stood them in stead, for they were both acquitted.

Bambridge, some twenty years after, committed suicide by cutting his throat.