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Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
As a matter of fact, there seem to have been two bridges over the
Fleet, crossing it at Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill, both side by side,
as at Holborn. Crosby, upon whose collection I have so largely
drawn, says that it is so, from personal observation, one bridge
being 24 ft. 6 in., and the other, 24 ft. wide, making in all, a roadway
of 48 ft. 6 in. presumably including parapets. From his
measurements, the span of the bridge was 12 ft., and the height of
the arch was 11 ft. 6 in., but he does not say whence he takes his
measurement—from the bottom of the Fleet, or from the river level.
To this measurement hangs a tale, which is best told in Crosby's own
words, from a memo of his in the Guildhall Library:—

"Fleet Bridge, Tuesday, July 28th, 1840. As I could not depend

upon the admeasurements which, at the beginning of the year, I
had taken in a hurried manner, at Fleet Bridges, while
bricklayers were placing in a brick bottom in place of the original
one of alluvial soil, I determined to obtain them the first
opportunity. This evening, therefore, at ten o'clock, I met
Bridgewater, one of the workmen employed in constructing the
New Sewer from Holborn Bridge to Clerkenwell, by
appointment, at the Hoard there, water boots being in
readiness. I lighted my lamps, and, assisted by the watchmen,
King and Arion, we descended the ladder, and got into that
branch of the sewer which joins Wren's bridge, at Holborn. We
then walked carefully till we reached Fleet Bridge. I suspended
my Argand lamp on the Breakwater of the Sewer, and with my
Lanthorn light we proceeded towards the Thames. We got a
considerable distance, during which the channel of the Sewer
twice turned to the right, at a slight angle, the last portion we
entered, was barrelled at the bottom, the middle so full of holes,
and the water so deep, as we approached the Thames, that we
thought it prudent to return to Fleet bridge." (Here they lit up
and took measurements). "All went well till about a quarter to
twelve o'clock, when to our surprise we found the Tide had
suddenly come in to the depth of two feet and a half. No time
was to be lost, but I had only one more admeasurement to
make, viz., the width of the north bridge. I managed this, and
we then snatched up the basket, and holding our Lamps aloft,
dashed up the Sewer, which we had to get up one half before
out of danger. The air was close, and made us faint. However
we got safe to Holborn Bridge...."

Footnotes
[73] Harl. MSS. 2013.
 CHAPTER XVI.

H
ATTON, writing in 1708, says: "Fleet Bridge is even with the
Str(eet); it leads from Fleet Street over the Fleet Ditch to
Ludgate Hill; is accommodated with strong Battlements which
are adorned with six Peers and enriched with the Arms of London,
and Supporters Pine-apples, &c., all of Stone; and bet(wee)n the
Peers are Iron Rails and Bannisters, on the N. & S. sides of the
Bridge."
On either side of where the Bridge used to be, are two obelisks, one
on the North, or Farringdon Street side, to Alderman Waithman, and
on the South, or Bridge Street side, to John Wilkes the notorious.
The first bears the following inscription:—
Erected
to the memory
of
Robert
Waithman
by
his friends and
fellow citizens,

M.D.C.C.C.XXXIII.

This Alderman Waithman was almost one of the typical class so

often held up as an example for all poor boys to follow, i.e., he
began life with simply his own energy, and opportunity to help him.
And, as a virtuous example of industry, when the times were not so
pushing as now; and half, and quarter, or less commissions on
transactions were unknown, we may just spend a minute in reading
about him. Wrexham was his birthplace in 1764, and his father dying
soon after, he was adopted by his uncle and sent to school. No one
was then left very many years in statu pupillari, and, consequently,
he had to join his uncle in business, as a linendraper at Bath. The
uncle died in 1788, and he took a place at Reading, whence he came
to London, and lived as a linendraper's assistant until he came of
age. He then married, and opened a shop at the South end of the
Fleet Market, nearly precisely on the spot where his monument now
stands.
He prospered in business, and moved to other, and larger premises,
became Common Councilman, tried to get into Parliament for the
City, and ultimately succeeded in 1818. Next election he lost it, but
in all subsequent ones he was the favoured candidate. He was
Alderman of Farringdon Without, Sheriff, and filled the office of
Mayor in 1823-4. The obelisk to his memory remains, but he has
dropped out of general memory, and this revival of his life, for
imitation, in industry and rectitude of conduct, must be my excuse
for taking up my readers' time.
Far different is it with John Wilkes, about whom every one knows,
and I have only to say that his obelisk bears the inscription—

A.D.
M.D.C.C.LXXV.
The Right
Honorable
J o h n W i l k e s,
Lord Mayor.

This inscription became effaced through the weather, and was,

within the last few years, replaced with a new stone; but it was
grumbled at for not having the original word "Esquire" after John
Wilkes, which was surely a work of supererogation.
Close by was Ludgate, with its debtors' prison of Lud-gate, which
was rather aristocratic, being "purely for Insolvent Citizens of
London, Beneficed Clergy, and Attorneys at Law," and which was
even peculiar in the time when it existed; for Maitland, in his
"History of London" (ed. 1775, pp. 28, 29) says:—

"The domestick Government of this Prison having something

very singular and remarkable in it, I presume an Account
thereof will not be unacceptable to the Reader. I shall,
therefore, insert a compendious Abstract thereof from an
Account published some Time ago by one who had been a long
Time Prisoner there.
"For the quiet and good Government of this Prison, and the
Punishment of Crimes and Misdemeanors therein committed,
the Master Keeper and Prisoners from among themselves chuse
the following Officers, viz., A Reader of Divine Service; an upper
Steward, called the Master of the Box; an Under Steward; seven
Assistants, who by Turns officiate daily; a Running Assistant;
two Churchwardens; a Scavenger; a Chamberlain; a Running
Post; and the Criers or Beggars at the Gates, who are generally
six in number.
"The Reader is chosen by the Master Keeper, Stewards, and
Assistants, and not at a General Election, as the other Officers
are. The Reader, besides reading Prayers, was, originally,
obliged to Ring the Bell twice a Day for Prayers, and also for the
Space of a Quarter of an Hour before Nine at Night, as a
Warning for all Strangers to depart the Prison; but for the
Dignity of his Office, he is now exempt from those Services, and
others in his stead are appointed to perform them. This Officer's
salary is two Shillings and eight Pence per Month, and a Penny
of every Prisoner at his Entrance, if his Garnish[74] amount to
sixteen Pence; and a Dish of Meat out of the Lord Mayor's
Basket.
"The Upper Steward, or Master of the Box, is, by all the
Prisoners held in equal Esteem with the Keeper of the Prison;
and to his Charge is committed the keeping of all the several
Orders of the House, with the Accounts of Cash received upon
Legacies; the Distribution of all the Provisions sent in by the
Lord Mayor, and others; the cash received by Garnish, and
begging at the Grates, which he weekly lays out in Bread,
Candles, and other Necessaries. He likewise keeps a List of all
the Prisoners, as well those that are upon the Charity, as those
that are not; to each of whom, by the Aid of the Assistant for
the Day, he distributes their several proportions of Bread and
other Provisions. He receives the Gifts of the Butchers,
Fishmongers, Poulterers, and other Market People, sent in by
the Clerk of the Market, by the Running Post, for which he gives
a Receipt, and, afterwards, in the Presence of the Assistant for
the Day, exposes for Sale to the Charity Men, by Way of Market;
and the Money arising thereby is deposited in the Common
Stock, or Bank.
"This Officer, with the Under Steward, Assistants, and
Churchwardens, are elected monthly by the Suffrages of the
Prisoners; but all the other Officers, except the Chamberlain,
are appointed by the Master-Keeper, Stewards, and Assistants.
The Design of these frequent Elections, is to prevent Frauds and
Abuses in the respective Officers; but, when they are known to
be Men of Probity, they are generally reelected, and often
continue in such Posts many Months. The Monday after every
Election, the Accounts are audited and passed, and the Balance
divided; and, if it amount to three Shillings and four Pence per
Man, the Keeper of the Prison arbitrarily extorts from each
Prisoner two Shillings and Four Pence, without the least Colour
of Right: But, if the Dividend arises not so high, then he only
takes one Shilling and two Pence; the other Moiety being
charged to the Prisoner's Account, to be paid at the Time of his
Discharge; which new and detestable Impositions are
apparently contrary to the Intention of the Founder.
"Another great Grievance the distressed and miserable Prisoners
are subject to, is, their being obliged to pay the Turnkey twelve
Shillings per Month, for no other Service than that of opening
the Door to let in Gifts and Charities sent to the Prison, which
often amount to little more than what he receives.
"The Under Steward is an Assistant, or Deputy, to the Upper
Steward, in whose Absence or Indisposition he performs the
several Functions of his Office.
"The Assistants, being seven in Number, are chosen Monthly
with the Stewards; one whereof, officiating daily, his Business is
to attend in the Hall, to enter all Charities, and keep an Account
of the Money taken out of the Boxes, which are opened at five
o'Clock in the Afternoon, and at Nine at Night; which Money he
pays to the Upper Steward, at the passing of whose Accounts
the Assistants are Auditors.
"Every Person put in Nomination for the Office of an Assistant,
refusing to serve, forfeits one Shilling to the Use of the Publick,
or, in lieu thereof, to be put in Fetters for three Days. The
officiating Assistant is invested with a magisterial Power,
whereby he can commit a Prisoner to the Stocks or Shackles, for
the Abuse of any Person. This Officer is to see the Cellar cleared
every Night, by ten o'Clock of all the Prisoners; for which he
receives six Pence out of the Charity Money; two Pence whereof
to his own Use, two Pence to the Upper Steward, and two
Pence to the Running Assistant. This Office was anciently in
such Esteem, that the Assistant, at his entering upon it, used
nightly, at Eight o'Clock, to be ushered into the Hall, by an
Illumination of forty or fifty great Candles, carried by so many
Prisoners.
"The Running Assistant's Business is, to attend upon the Criers
at the Gates, to change Money; and open the Boxes: to put up
Candles in their respective Places, attend upon the Stewards
and Assistants, look after the Clock, ring the Bell for Prayers;
and to be Crier at the Sale of Provisions. His Salary is four
Shillings and eight Pence per Month, and an eighth part of the
Garnish Money.
"The Churchwardens are chosen from among the youngest
Prisoners. The Upper Warden's Office is, to call to Prayers on
Sundays, after the Bell has done ringing; and the Under
Warden's is to call the Prisoners to Prayers all other Days. They
are likewise to take cognizance of all Persons who are upon the
Charity Foundation; who in default of Attendance are fined one
Penny each. The Under Warden's Salary for this Service is four
Pence per Month; and the Penalty for not serving, when duly
elected, is four Pence.
"The Scavenger's Office is, to keep clean the Prison, and to
fetter, and put in the Stocks all Offenders; for which he is
intitled to receive from each Criminal one Penny, together with a
Salary of five Shillings and eight Pence per Month, and two
Pence out of every sixteen Pence of the Garnish Money.
"The Chamberlain is chosen by the Keeper of the Prison, whose
Office it is to take Care of all the Bedding and Linen belonging
to the Keeper; to place Men at their coming in, and to furnish
them with Sheets, and to give Notice to Strangers to depart the
Prison by Ten o'Clock at Night. This Officer, formerly, was
obliged to make the Charity-Men's Beds, for which he received
two Pence per Month.
"The Running Post's Business is, to fetch in a Basket the broken
Meat from the Lord-Mayor, Clerk of the Market, private Families,
and Charities given in the Streets, which are often so
inconsiderable as not to admit of a Dividend; wherefore it is
disposed of by Sale or publick Market, as aforesaid. The Salary
annexed to this office, is four Shillings per Month; one Penny
per Month out of each Man's Dividend, and one Penny out of
every sixteen Pence of Garnish money.
 "The Criers are six in Number; two whereof daily beg at the
Grates; he at the Grate within is allowed one Fourth of what is
given, and he at that on Blackfriars Side one Moiety of what is
given there."

This custom is alluded to in the Spectator, No. lxxxii.:

"Passing under Ludgate the other Day I heard a Voice bawling for
Charity, which I thought I had somewhere heard before. Coming
near to the Grate, the Prisoner called me by my Name, and desired I
would throw something into the Box. I was out of Countenance for
him, and did as he bid me, by putting in half a Crown."
Of this Grate there is a pretty and romantic story told by Stow.[75]
"When the Prison was in this Condition, there happened to be
Prisoner there one Stephen Foster, who (as poor Men are at this
Day) was a Cryer at the Grate, to beg the benevolent Charities of
pious and commiserate Benefactors that passed by. As he was doing
his doleful Office, a rich Widow of London hearing his Complaint,
enquired of him, what would release him? To which he answered,
Twenty Pound, which she in Charity expended; and, clearing him out
of Prison, entertained him in her Service; who, afterward, falling into
the Way of Merchandize, and increasing as well in Wealth as
Courage, wooed his Mistress, Dame Agnes, and married her.
"Her Riches and his Industry brought him both great Wealth and
Honour, being afterwards no less than Sir Stephen Foster, Lord
Mayor of the Honourable City of London: Yet whilst he lived in this
great Honour and Dignity, he forgat not the Place of his Captivity,
but, mindful of the sad and irksome Place wherein poor Men were
imprisoned, bethought himself of enlarging it, to make it a little
more delightful and pleasant for those who in after Times should be
imprisoned and shut up therein. And, in order thereunto, acquainted
his Lady with this his pious Purpose and Intention; in whom likewise
he found so affable and willing a Mind to do Good to the Poor, that
she promised to expend as much as he should do for the carrying on
of the Work."
And they did spend their money on it right royally, building, amongst
many other conveniences, a Chapel for the inmates, A.D. 1454,
which they endowed, so as to maintain a "preacher" or chaplain. Sir
Stephen Foster likewise provided that the place "should be free for
all Freemen, and that they, providing their own Bedding, should pay
nothing at their Departure for Lodging, or Chamber rent (as now
they call it), which to many poor Men becomes oftentimes as
burdensome as their Debts, and are by the Keeper detained in
Prison as for Debt, only for their Fees, though discharged and
acquitted of what they were committed for."
Nor did his charitable goodness end here, for he gave a supply of
water gratis to the prisoners, as was recorded on a brass in the
Chapel, very pithily—

"Devout Souls that pass this way

For Stephen Foster, late Maior, heartily pray,
And Dame Agnes, his Spouse, to God consecrate,
That of Pity this House made for Londoners in Ludgate.
So that for Lodging and Water, Prisoners have nought to pay,
As their Keepers shall all answer at dreadful Doomsday."

Dame Agnes survived her husband, but was ultimately buried by his
side in the Church of St. Botolph, Billingsgate.
For a Prison, Ludgate compared more than favourably with every
other in London. As we have seen, the prisoners were select; they
were helped, in the matter of food, by the king of the City, the Lord
Mayor: their fees were infinitesimal as compared with other debtors'
prisons. Strype (ed. 1720, book ii. p. 179) says:—

"Formerly Debtors that were not able to satisfy their Debts, put
themselves into this Prison of Ludgate, for shelter from their
Creditors. And these were Merchants and Tradesmen that had
been driven to want by Losses at Sea. When King Philip in the
Month of August 1554 came first through London, these
prisoners were Thirty in number; and owed £10,000, but
compounded for £2,000. Who presented a well penned Latin
Speech to that Prince, to redress their Miseries, and, by his
Royal Generosity, to free them. 'And the rather, for that that
Place was not Sceleratorum Carcer, sed miserorum Custodia;
i.e., a Gaol for Villains, but a Place of Restraint for poor
unfortunate Men. And that they were put in there, not by
others, but themselves fled thither; and that not out of fear of
Punishment, but in hope of better Fortune.' The whole Letter
was drawn by the curious Pen of Roger Ascham, and is extant
among his Epistles, Lib. iii.
"If a Freeman or Freewoman of London be committed to
Ludgate, they are to be excused from the ignominy of Irons, if
they can find Sureties to be true Prisoners, and if the Sum be
not above £100. There is another Custom of the liberal and mild
Imprisonment of the Citizens in Ludgate, whereby they have
Indulgence and Favour to go abroad into any place by Baston,
as we term it, under the guard and superintendency of their
Keeper, with whom they must return again to the Prison at
Night."

Footnotes
[74] "Garnish" was the footing that every prisoner paid on his
entrance, and woe become him if it were not forthcoming; he
was simply stripped of his clothes.
[75] Strype's "Stow's Survey," ed. 1720, vol. ii. p. 26
appendix.
 CHAPTER XVII.

T
HE Course of the Fleet is nearly run, but, before closing this
account of the river, we should not forget the residence of the
mighty King-maker, the Earl of Warwick, whose pleasant gardens
ran down to the Fleet; and there, in Warwick Lane, after the great
Fire, was built the College of Physicians, described thus by Dr. Garth,
in his "Dispensary":—

"Not far from that most celebrated Place,

Where angry Justice shews her awful Face;
Where little Villains must submit to Fate,
That great ones may enjoy the World in
State,
There stands a Dome, majestick to the
sight,
And sumptuous Arches bear its oval height;
A golden Globe plac'd high with artful skill,
Seems, to the distant sight, a gilded Pill."

Here they were housed until 1825, and, from the Fleet, could be
seen the Apothecaries' Hall, in Water Lane, Blackfriars,
 "Nigh where Fleet Ditch descends in sable
Streams
To wash his sooty Naiads in the Thames;
There stands a Structure on a Rising Hill,
Where Tyro's take their Freedom out to Kill."

Then there was the Monastery of the Dominicans, or Blackfriars,

which has given its name to a whole district; and there was a
fortification, or postern, on the little river, near Ludgate Hill; and,
close to its junction with the Thames, was Bridewell Bridge, so called
from the Royal Palace of that name, which, in its turn, received its
cognomen from another well, which went to form the "River of
Wells," St. Bridget's or Bride's Well. This bridge is shown in the
frontispiece, and was necessarily made very high in order to allow
sailing craft to go under it.
It was here that Pope, in his "Dunciad" (book ii.), thus sings:

"This labour past, by Bridewell all descend,

(As morning pray'r, and flagellation end)
To where Fleet-ditch with disemboguing streams
Rolls the large tribute of dead dogs to Thames,
The King of Dykes! than whom, no sluice of
mud,
With deeper sable blots the silver flood.
'Here strip, my children! here at once leap in,
Here prove who best can dash thro' thick and
thin.'"[76]

Ward bursts into song over Bridewell, thus:—

 "'Twas once the Palace of a Prince,
If we may Books Confide in;
But given was, by him long since,
For Vagrants to Reside in."

BRIDEWELL BRIDGE.

The Royal Palace of Bridewell stood on the site of the Castle of

Montfichet, who is believed to have come over with William the
Conqueror. Tradition assigns it a still earlier date, even Roman, but
then, I don't say there was not a Roman fortress here, but I cannot
say there was. Certainly Cardinal Wolsey lived here, and Henry VIII.
held occasional Court.
Strype, in his edition of Stow (1720) says that after the destruction
of Montfichet Castle and its Stone being given away:—

"This Tower or Castle being thus destroyed, stood, as it may

seem, in Place where now standeth the House called Bridewell.
For, notwithstanding the Destruction of the said Castle or Tower,
the House remained large, so that the Kings of this Realm long
after were lodged there and kept their Courts. For, in the Ninth
Year of Henry the Third, the Courts of Law, and Justice were
kept in the King's House, wheresoever he was lodged, and not
else where. And that the Kings have been lodged, and kept their
Law Courts in this Place, I could shew you many Authorities of
Record....
"More, (as Matthew Paris hath) about the Year 1210, King John,
in the Twelfth Year of his Reign, summoned a Parliament at S.
Brides in London; where he exacted of the Clergy, and Religious
Persons the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pounds; And
besides all this, the White Monks were compelled to cancel their
Privileges, and to pay £4000 to the King, &c. This House of S.
Brides (of later Time) being left, and not used by the Kings, fell
to Ruin; insomuch that the very Platform thereof remained (for
great part) waste, and as it were, but a Lay Stall of Filth and
Rubbish, only a fair Well remained there. A great part whereof,
namely, on the West, as hath been said, was given to the
Bishop of Salisbury; the other Part toward the East remained
waste, until King Henry the Eighth builded a stately and
beautiful House, thereupon, giving it to Name, Bridewell, of the
Parish and Well there. This House he purposely builded for the
Entertainment of the Emperor Charles the Fifth;[77] who in the
Year 1522 came into this City.... Being in Decay, and long
disused, King Edward VI. gave it to the City in the Seventh[78]
Year of his Reign.
"It is seated near to Blackfriars; from which it is severed by the
Canal of the Fleet-ditch. It was obtained of the King at first for
an Harbour of poor Harbourless People, that lay abroad in the
Streets. It was soon after improved to be a Workhouse, not only
to give Lodging to poor, idle, wandring Persons, Beggars, and
others; but to find them Work, to help to maintain themselves.
But tho' this was granted in the Year 1553, yet it seems, it was
not before Two Years after, that the City entred and took
possession of it by Gerard their Maior, having obtained Queen
Mary's Confirmation.
"In the time of Queen Elizabeth, about the Year 1570 and odd,
one John Pain, a Citizen, invented a Mill to grind Corn; which he
got recommended to the Lord Maior, for the Use of Bridewell.
This Mill had Two Conveniences: One was, That it would grind a
greater Quantity considerably than any other Mills of that Sort
could do. And the other (which would render it so useful to
Bridewell) was, That the Lame, either in Arms or Legs, might
work at it, if they had but the Use of either. And, accordingly,
these Mills were termed Hand-Mills or Foot-Mills.
"This Mill he shewed to the Lord Maior, who saw it grind as
much Corn with the Labour of Two Men, as they did then at
Bridewell with Ten. That is to say, Two Men with Hands, two
Bushels the Hour; or Two Men with Feet, two Bushels the Hour.
If they were Lame in their Arms, then they might earn their
Livings with their Legs. If Lame in their Legs, then they might
earn their Livings with their Arms."
—This, perhaps, is the earliest mention of the treadmill, as a
punishment.
Still quoting Strype, (same edition):
"The Use of this Hospital now is for an House of Correction, and
to be a Place where all Strumpets, Night-walkers, Pickpockets,
vagrant and idle Persons, that are taken up for their ill Lives, as
also incorrigible and disobedient Servants, are committed by the
 Mayor and Aldermen, who are Justices of the Peace within the
said City; And being so committed are forced to beat Hemp in
publick View, with due Correction of whipping, according to their
Offence, for such a Time as the President and Court shall see
Cause."

Bridewell is well shown by Hogarth in the fourth picture of the

"Harlot's progress," where both men and women are seen "beetling"
hemp.[79]
In a very rare tract called "Mr. William Fullers Trip to Bridewell"
(1703) he gives a fairly graphic description of a prisoner's entry
therein. "As soon as I came there, the Word was Strip, pull off your
Cloaths, and with much intreaty, I prevail'd to keep on my Westcoat;
then I was set to a Block, a punny of Hemp was laid thereon, and
Ralph Cumpton (a Journy Man in the Shop) presented me with a
Beatle, bidding me knock the Hemp with that, as fast as I could.
This Beatle is of Brazel, [80] and weigh'd about 12 pounds."
Previously to this, poor Fuller had to stand twice in the pillory, on
one of which occasions he was nearly killed by the mob, and when
taken to Bridewell, all black and blue as he was, he had a whipping:
— "My Hands were put in the Stocks, and then Mr. Hemings the
Whipper, began to noint me with his Instrument, that had, I believe,
about a dozen Strings notted at the end, and with that I had Thirty
Nine Stripes (so that according to a certain Almanack Maker, who
reckoned Dr. Oates's Stripes by every String, I had twelve times
Thirty Nine). I had given the Rascal Half a Crown, but he afforded
me very little favour, but struck home at every stroak; I confess I
could not forbear bawling out, but good Sir Robert [81] knockt at
last, and I was let out of the Stocks."
The prisoners, if they chose, could find their own food, but they
were kept strictly at work as is quaintly put by Fuller—
"I had, in each Shop, the Thieves for my Fellow-labourers, and the
Journeymen, our Deputy Task Masters, were frequently calling to the
Prisoners, Why don't you Work there, strike hard: Then threaten,
and sometimes beat them with a small Cane. These Task-masters
are so accustomed to keeping their Prisoners hard at Work, that I
have heard themselves say, they have, frequently, (forgetting
themselves) called out, when they had no Prisoner in the Shop, as
before, Why don't you work there."
Ward (in the "London Spy") gives an almost too graphic account of
this prison, but expresses unmitigated disgust at the whipping of
women, which took place there, and solemnly protested against its
continuance. His description of a woman being flogged, is as follows:
—

"My Friend Re-conducted me cc Quadrangle, and led me up a

pair of Stairs into a Spacious Chamber, where the Court was
sitting in great Grandeur and Order. A Grave Gentleman, whose
Awful Looks bespoke him some Honourable Citizen, was
mounted in the Judgement-Seat, Arm'd with a Hammer, like a
Change-Broker at Lloyd's Coffee House, when selling Goods by
Inch of Candle, and a Woman under the Lash in the next Room;
where Folding doors were open'd, that the whole Court might
see the Punishment Inflicted; at last down went the Hammer,
and the Scourging ceas'd.... Another Accusation being then
deliver'd by a Flat-Cap against a poor Wench, who having no
Friend to speak in her behalf, Proclamation was made, viz. All
you who are willing E——th T——ll, should have present
Punishment, pray hold up your hands. Which was done
accordingly:
 WOMEN BEATING HEMP.

And then she was order'd the Civility of the House, and was
forc'd to shew her tender Back and Breasts to the Grave Sages
of the August Assembly, who were mov'd by her Modest Mein,
together with the whiteness of her Skin, to give her but a gentle
Correction."

John Howard, in his "State of the Prisons in England and Wales" (ed.
1777) gives the following description of Bridewell:—

"This building was formerly a Palace, near St. Bridget's (St.

Bride's) Well; from whence it had the name; which, after it
became a Prison, was applied to other Prisons of the same sort.
It was given to the City by King Edward VI. in 1552.
"That part of Bridewell which relates to my subject has wards
for men and women quite separate. [82] The men's ward on the
ground floor, is a day room in which they beat hemp; and a
night room over it. One of the upper chambers is fitting up for
an Infirmary.—The woman's ward is a day room on the ground
floor, in which they beat hemp; and a night room over it. I was
told that the chamber above this is to be fitted up for an
Infirmary. The sick, have, hitherto, been commonly sent to St.
Bartholomew's Hospital. All the Prisoners are kept within doors.
"The women's rooms are large, and have opposite windows, for
fresh air. Their Ward, as well as the men's, has plenty of water:
and there is a Hand-Ventilator on the outside, with a tube to
each room of the women's ward. This is of great service, when
the rooms are crowded with Prisoners, and the weather is
warm.

PASS ROOM, BRIDEWELL, 1808.

 "The Prisoners are employed by a Hemp dresser, who has the
profit of their labour, an apartment in the Prison, and a salary of
£14. I generally found them at work: they are provided for, so
as to be able to perform it. The hours of work are, in winter,
from eight to four; in summer from six to six, deducting meal
times. The Steward is allowed eightpence a day for the
maintenance of each Prisoner; and contracts to supply them as
follows:—On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, a penny
loaf, ten ounces of dressed beef without bone, broth, and three
pints of ten shilling beer; on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, a
penny loaf, four ounces of cheese, or some butter, a pint of milk
pottage, and three pints of ten shilling beer.... In winter they
have some firing. The night rooms are supplied with straw. No
other Prison in London has any straw, or other bedding.... I
found there in 1776:—
March 13. Prisoners 20
May 1. " 7
Dec. 3. " 24."

It continued as a House of Correction for the City of London until its

abolition, with other Civic prisons by an Act of 40 and 41 Vict. cap.
21, entitled "An Act to amend the Law relating to Prisons in
England." But there was an exception made in its favour, and it still
remains a House of Correction in a mild way—thanks to the very
kindly and fatherly wishes and representations of the Civic
Authorities.
The good old days of Apprenticing boys to some craft for seven
years, during which he was to serve his master faithfully, and in
return, was to be housed, fed, and taught his business, have all but
passed away, but not quite. There are still some refractory
apprentices, as there ever have been. We know the common saying
of "Boys will be boys," which is applied in mitigation of juvenile
indiscretion, but there is also another apothegm, "Little boys, when
they are naughty, must be smacked, and sent to bed." Bridewell has
always been a place where idle or refractory City apprentices have
had the opportunity of pondering over the errors of their ways, and
in passing this Act, a special exemption was made, and there still
exist six cells, which, I am sorry to say, are frequently occupied by
erring youths. It is all done in the kindest, and most fatherly way.
The City Chamberlain from the time of the Indentures of the lad
being signed, to giving him his Freedom, acts as his guardian, to a
great extent. Has the lad any complaint to make against his master
it is to the Chamberlain he must appeal, and vice versâ. The Cause
is heard in camerâ, and every effort is made to reconcile the parties,
but, as will sometimes happen with a boy who is obstinate, sullen, or
vicious, all attempts to bring him to a better sense fail, then the
Chamberlain, by virtue of his office commits the boy to Bridewell,
where he eats the bread, and drinks the water, of affliction for a
while, a treatment, which combined with the confinement, hard
work, and enforced sequestration from society, largely aided by the
good advice of the Chaplain, very seldom fails to effect its object,
and render that lad a decent member of the commonweal. It just
arrests him in his downward path, there is no publicity, the thing is
never chronicled in any Newspaper, as it might be, supposing no
Bridewell existed, and the case was brought before a police
magistrate—it need never be known outside his family circle, and he
escapes the taint of being a gaol bird.
Bridewell seems to have been long associated with apprentices, not
all of them "Thomas Idles," I am happy to say; and Hatton in "The
New View of London" (1708) writes, showing the tender care that
the City of London have always had for their poor:

"It is also an Hospital for Indigent Persons, and where 20 Art

Masters (as they are called) being decayed Traders as
Shoemakers, Taylors, Flax-dressers, &c., have Houses, and their
Servants, or Apprentices (being about 140 in all) have Cloaths
at the House Charge, and their Masters having the Profit of their
Work do often advance by this means their own Fortunes, and
these Boys, having served their time faithfully, have not only
 their Freedom, but also £10 each towards carrying on their
respective Trades, and many have even arrived from nothing to
be Governors."

This arrangement has, of course, had to "march with the times," and
in 1860 the Master of the Rolls approved of, and sanctioned, a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners, whereby nearly all the funds
appertaining to Bridewell are utilized by two industrial schools called
"King Edward's Schools," most impartially divided—one at Witley, in
Surrey, affording accommodation for two hundred and forty boys,
and another in St. George's Fields, Lambeth, for two hundred and
forty girls; so that, even in these latter days, Bridewell still exists,
and, if the spirits of its numerous benefactors have the power to see
the manner in which their money is being spent, I fancy they would
not grumble.
Before leaving the topic of Bridewell, as a prison, I must not fail to
mention a notorious, but naughty, old woman who lived in the time
of Charles II., commonly known as "Old Mother Cresswell." It is no
slander on her memory, to say that her sense of morality was
exceedingly lax, and she died in Bridewell. She evidently had saved
some money, and with that curious spirit which possesses some
people, and produces adulatory epitaphs, she would fain be better
thought of after her death, than she was estimated when alive, for,
in her will, she left a legacy for a sermon at her funeral, the
preacher's remuneration to be £10, on one condition, that he should
say nothing but what was well of her. A clergyman having been
found, he preached a sermon generally adapted to the occasion, and
wound up by saying: "By the will of the deceased, it is expected that
I should mention her, and say nothing but what was well of her. All
that I shall say of her, however, is this: she was born well, she lived
well, and she died well; for she was born with the name of
Cresswell, she lived in Clerkenwell, and she died in Bridewell."
There was a fine old Court-room, which is thus described in the
"Microcosm of London" (1808):
"The Court-room is an interesting piece of antiquity, as on its site
were held courts of justice, and probably parliaments, under our
early kings. At the upper end are the old arms of England; and it is
wainscotted with English Oak, ornamented with Carved work. This
Oak was formerly of the solemn colour which it attains by age, and
was relieved by the carving being gilt. It must have been no small
effort of ingenuity to destroy at one stroke all this venerable, time-
honoured grandeur: it was, however, happily achieved, by daubing
over with paint the fine veins and polish of the old oak, to make a
bad imitation of the pale modern wainscot; and other decorations
are added in similar taste.
"On the upper part of the walls are the names, in gold letters, of
benefactors to the hospital: the dates commence with 1565, and end
with 1713. This is said to have been the Court in which the sentence
of divorce was pronounced against Catherine of Arragon, which had
been concluded on in the opposite monastery of the Black Friars.
"From this room is the entrance into the hall, which is a very noble
one: at the upper end is a picture by Holbein,[83] representing
Edward VI. delivering the Charter of the hospital to Sir George
Barnes, then Lord Mayor; near him are William, Earl of Pembroke,
and Thomas Goodrich, Bishop of Ely. There are ten figures in the
picture, besides the king, whose portrait is painted with great truth
and feeling: it displays all that languor and debility which mark an
approaching dissolution, and which, unhappily, followed so soon
after, together with that of the painter; so that it has been
sometimes doubted whether the picture was really painted by
Holbein—his portrait, however, is introduced; it is the furthest figure
in the corner on the right hand, looking over the shoulders of the
persons before him.
"On one side of this picture is a portrait of Charles II. sitting, and, on
the other, that of James II. standing; they are both painted by Sir
Peter Lely. Round the room are several portraits of the Presidents
and different benefactors, ending with that of Sir Richard Carr Glyn.
The walls of this room are covered with the names of those who
have been friends to the institution, written in letters of gold."
This Hall was pulled down in 1862.

Footnotes
[76] See next page.
[77] Of Spain.
[78] A.D. 1553.
[79] A Beetle is a portion of a trunk of a tree, large or small
as occasion demanded, sometimes more than one man could
lift, vide Shakspeare (2 Hen. IV. act i. sc. 2), "Fillip me with a
three-man beetle," i.e., one with three handles. All
exogenous fibres have to be crushed, in order to release the
fibre from the wooden core, and this, which is now done by
machinery, was then done by beetles, or wooden hammers.
[80] Brazil wood.
[81] Sir Robert Jeffries the President and Justice at Bridewell,
when he knocked with a hammer the punishment ceased.
[82] In Hogarth's picture both men and women are working
together.
[83] The writer is in error, as the event it represents took
place some ten years after Holbein's death. The picture is
now in Christ's Hospital.
 CHAPTER XVIII.

B
ORDERING upon Bridewell, and almost part and parcel of it,
was Whitefriars, which, westward, ran to the Temple, and
eastward to the Fleet. It is so-called from a Carmelite
monastery, established here in the reign of Edward I. Within its
precincts was the right of sanctuary, and, like the Jewish Cities of
Refuge, offenders against the law might flee thither, and be
protected from arrest. Naturally, the very scum of London floated
thither, to the Mint in Southwark, and the precincts of the Savoy in
the Strand, in none of which the King's warrant ran, unless backed
by a force sufficient to overawe the lawless denizens of these
localities. Whitefriars we may take as its original name, but there
was given it a nick-name, "Alsatia," from Alsace, or Elsass, on the
frontier between France and Germany, which was always a battle-
field between the two nations; and so, from the incessant fighting
that went on in this unruly neighbourhood, it acquired its cognomen.
Sir Walter Scott, in "The Fortunes of Nigel," gives a vivid description
of the utter lawlessness and debauchery of this quarter of the town,
but his was second-hand. Perhaps one of the most graphic pictures
of this sink of iniquity is given in Shadwell's "Squire of Alsatia," acted
in 1688, and which was so popular, that it had a run of thirteen
nights. Here we get at the manners and customs of the natives,
without any glossing over; and, just to give an example of the real
state of the district at that time, I make two or three extracts,
showing how the denizens were banded together in mutual defence.
 "Cheatly. So long as you forbear all Violence, you are safe;
but, if you strike here, we command the Fryers, and will raise
the Posse....
[A Noise of Tumult without, and blowing a Horn.]
Cheatly. What is this I hear?
Shamwell. They are up in the Friers; Pray Heav'n the Sheriff's
Officers be not come.
Cheatly. 'Slife, 'tis so! 'Squire, let me conduct you——This is your
wicked Father with Officers.
Exit.
[Cry without, the Tip-Staff! an Arrest! an Arrest! and the horn
blows.]
[Enter Sir William Belfond, and a Tip-Staff, with the Constable,
and his Watchmen; and, against them, the Posse of the Friers
drawn up, Bankrupts hurrying to escape.]
Sir Will. Are you mad, to resist the Tip-Staff, the King's
Authority?
[They cry out, An Arrest! several flock to 'em with all sorts of
Weapons, Women with Fire-Forks, Spits, Paring Shovels, &c.]

Tip-Staff. I charge you, in the King's Name, all to assist me.

Rabble. Fall on.
[Rabble beat the Constable, and the rest run into the Temple.
Tip-Staff runs away.]."

So that we see how an ordinary sheriff's officer and the civil

authorities were treated when they attempted to execute the law;
but, further on in the play, we find a Lord Chief Justice's warrant,
backed up by a military force—and then we see the difference.

"Truman. What do all these Rabble here?

Constable. Fire amongst 'em.
Sergeant. Present.
[The Debtors run up and dozen, some without their Breeches,
others
without their Coats; some out of Balconies; some crying
out,
Oars! Oars! Sculler! Five Pounds for a Boat! The Inhabitants
all come out arm'd as before; but as soon as they see the
Musqueteers, they run, and every one shifts for himself.]

And almost at the close of the play one of the characters, Sir Edward
Belfond, moralizes thus:

"Was ever such Impudence suffer'd in a Government? Ireland's

conquer'd; Wales subdued; Scotland united: But there are some
few Spots of Ground in London, just in the Face of the
Government, unconquer'd yet, that hold in Rebellion still.
Methinks 'tis strange, that Places so near the King's Palace
should be no Parts of his Dominions. 'Tis a Shame to the
Societies of the Law, to countenance such Practices: Should any
Place be shut against the King's Writ, or Posse Comitatus?"

This right of sanctuary was taken from Whitefriars by William III.,

the nest of rogues, vagabonds, and thieves broken up, the
occupants dispersed, and law reigned supreme in that once defiant
place.
We have now traced the Fleet River to its junction with the Thames.
Poor little river! its life began pure enough, but men so befouled it,
that their evil deeds rose against themselves, and the river retaliated
in such kind, as to become a malodorous and offensive nuisance,
dangerous to the health of those men who would not leave it in its
purity. So it was covered over, about 1764 (for it took some time to
do it), and the present Bridge Street is over its foul stream, which
was curbed, and bricked in, forming a portion of our vast and
wonderful system of sewers. It has taken its toll of human life, in its
time, though but few instances are recorded. In the Gentleman's
Magazine, January 11, 1763, we read: "A man was found in the
Fleet Ditch standing upright, and frozen to death. He appears to
have been a barber at Bromley, in Kent; had come to town to see his
children, and had, unfortunately, mistaken his way in the night, and
slipt into the ditch; and, being in liquor, could not disentangle
himself."
Bell's Weekly Messenger, August 2, 1835: "Some workmen have
been for a few days past engaged in making a new sewer,
communicating with the foulest of all streams, the Fleet Ditch. In
consequence of the rain the men had left off work; and, soon
afterwards, a young man named Macarthy, a bricklayer, proceeded
to the sewer for the purpose of bringing away a ladder, when, owing
to the slippery state of the works, he fell down the Sewer, but in his
descent, caught hold of the ladder he was in search of, to which he
hung for nearly a quarter of an hour, calling loudly all the time for
assistance, though from some extraordinary cause or other, no
person was able to afford him any. At length some of the labourers
arrived—but too late; he had just before fallen into the Sewer, and
was carried into the Fleet Ditch; and owing to its having been
swollen by the heavy shower, floated along as far as the mouth of
the Fleet Ditch, at Blackfriars, where his body was found, covered
with the filth of the sewer, which the unfortunate man had met with
in his progress to the Thames."
And the Times of October 3, 1839, records another fatal accident
during some repairs.
Naturally, this River was celebrated in verse. There was a very
foolish and dull poem by Arthur Murphy in 1761 called "Ode to the
Naiads of Fleet Ditch;" and, previously, it had been sung by Ben
Jonson, "On the famous Voyage," which will be found among his
epigrams. This voyage was from Bridewell to Holborn, and describes
very graphically the then state of the river. Too graphic, indeed, is it
for the reading of the modern public, so I transcribe but a very small
portion of it, showing its then state.

"But hold my torch, while I describe the entry

To this dire passage. Say, thou stop thy nose;
'Tis but light pains: indeed, this dock's no rose.
In the first jaws appear'd that ugly monster
Y'cleped mud, which, when their oars did once
stir,
Belched forth an air as hot, as at the muster
Of all your night tubs, when the carts do cluster,
Who shall discharge first his merd-urinous load;
Through her womb they make their famous
road."
1768. THE ARREST. (Drawn from a late
real scene.)

"Sir Fopling Flutter through his Glass

Inspects the ladies as they pass,
Yet still the Coxcomb lacks the Wit
To guard against the Bailiff's Writ."
 The Fleet Prison.

CHAPTER XIX.

T
HIS prison was of great antiquity, and its genealogy, like all
respectable ones, dates back to William the Conqueror, at least;
for we find, under date 1197, [84] "Natanael de Leveland &
Robertus filius suus r.c. de LX marcis, Pro habenda Custodia
Domorum Regis de Westmonasterio, & Gaiolæ de Ponte de Fliete,
quæ est hæreditas eorum a Conquestu Angliæ; ita quod non
remaneat propter Finem Osberto de Longo Campo." Or, in English,
"Nathaniel de Leveland and his son Robert, fined in sixty marks, to
have the Custody of the King's Houses at Westminster, and the
Prison at Fleet-bridge, which had been their inheritance ever since
the Conquest of England; and that they may not be hindered therein
by the Counterfine of Osbert de Longchamp."
There seems to have been some double dealing in this transaction,
in which, as was only natural in those days, money went into the
King's pocket.[85] "And Osbert de Longchamp fined in five hundred
marks, to have the King's favour, and seizin of all his lands and
chatels whereof he was disseised by the King's Command, and to
have seisin of the Custody of the Gaol of London, with the
Appurtenances, and of the Custody of the King's Houses of
Westminster: provided that Right be done therein in the King's
Court, in case any one would implead him for the same." [86]
Robert de Leveland, the son of the foregoing Nathaniel, was bitten
by the then fashionable craze for Crusading, for he is found, in 1201,
petitioning King John for leave to delegate the care of the King's
Houses at Westminster, and the Fleet Prison, to Simon FitzRobert,
Archdeacon of Wells, for the space of three years, during which time
he should be in the Holy Land. His prayer seems to have been
granted; but he evidently drew a little money before he went away,
for, in the Chancery Rolls of the same year, he was paid £15 10s. by
the City of London, on account of the King's Prison of Flete, and he
also received other sums of £10 12s. 10d. for the Custody of the
King's Houses at Westminster, and £7 12s. 1d. for the Custody of the
Gaol of London.[87] By which, and also by the foregoing notice of
Osbert de Longchamps, it is evident that, at that time, the Fleet
prison was the principal, if not the only, prison in London.
Robert de Leveland re-entered upon his duties after his three years'
leave, and a document is extant[88] in which he is excused payment
of £10 he had borrowed; but (possibly in lieu) he was bound to
serve beyond the seas—i.e., in foreign parts—with horses and arms.
When he died is not known, but his widow evidently succeeded him
as custodian, for in December, 1217, [89] his wife Margaret has the
same allowance given her in regard of the King's Houses at
Westminster "as the said Robert had been accustomed to during his
life." Thus she was the first female Warden of the Fleet; there were
others, as we shall see by and by.
It is a moot question, and I put it forward with all reserve, as to
whether there was not even an earlier mention of the Fleet before
the very authentic case of Nathaniel de Leveland; but as it is open to
objection that there were more Fleets than one, I only give the
cases, and make no comment. [90] 1189: "William de Flete gave a
Mark to have his plea in the King's Court touching a hyde of land,
versus Randolph de Broy." And again,[91] in 1193: "Richard de Flet
fined in one hundred Marks, that his daughter might be delivered
from Ralf de Candos, who said he had espoused her."
In the Rolls are many cases which mention the Fleet, but, although it
was a House of Detention, for debtors, especially to the King, and
persons committing minor crimes, it never seems to have been
degraded into what we should now term "a Gaol." No felons seem to
have been incarcerated there, and there is no mention of gyves or
chains, but they were used in after years.
It would seem that another "lady" Warden of the Fleet existed in
Edward II.'s time, for, in 1316, "Johanne, late Wife of John Schench
deceased, who held of the King in chief the Serjeanties of the
Custody of the King's Palace of Westminster, and of his Prison of
Flete, married Edmund de Cheney, without licence obtained from the
King, in that behalf. Whereupon the said serjeanties were taken into
the King's hands, and straitway the Treasurer and the Barons
committed the Custody of the Palace of Richard Abbot, who was
sworn de fideliter, &c., and the Custody of the Flete Prison to John
Dymmok, Usher of the Exchequer, who was sworn in the like
manner. Afterwards the said Edmund made Fine for the said
Trespass, and the said serjeanties were restored." By which we see
that thus early "women's rights" were fully recognized, and
"employment for females" in occupations hitherto enjoyed
exclusively by men, seems to have been in force.
Although not in Chronological Order, I may as well add another, and
the only other mention that has come under my notice of a female
Warden (1677): [92] "A Woman Guardian of the Fleet, marries her
Prisoner in Execution; he is immediately out of Execution; for the
Husband cannot be Prisoner to his Wife, it being repugnant that she,
as jaylor, should have custody of him, and he, as husband, the
custody of her."
Without some effective supervision, as is the case with our Prison
Commissioners, abuses were bound to creep in, and the Governor or
Warden of any Prison, (who doubtless had paid heavily for the
appointment) had to recoup himself by squeezing the unfortunate
prisoners, and we shall find several examples of this in the Fleet.
The earliest seems to have been in the second year of Henry IV.
(1400) when a petition was presented to Parliament [93] which
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