Newgate
Historic English prison
Newgate was a prison in London from the twelfth century until 1902, notorious for its squalid conditions and executions.
Public hangings outside Newgate drew large crowds.
The name became synonymous with imprisonment and the gallows: a Newgate bird was a criminal, Newgate fringe was the beard grown by men awaiting execution.
Dickens set scenes there in several novels.
Officially declared unfit
- debtorsThose who owe money
- felonsSerious crime offenders
- gaolerPrison guard, British spelling
- jailersThose who guard prisoners
warden · incarceration · cellblock · turnkey · irons · shackles · cells · dungeons
Study of punishment systems
- prison reformEfforts to improve incarceration
- conditionsPrevailing state of affairs
- squalorDirty, degraded living conditions
- diseaseDisorder impairing normal function
overcrowding · debtors · philanthropy · Quakers · inspection · humanitarianism · abolition · transportation
England's chief criminal court
- Fleet StreetBritish journalism metonym
- SmithfieldLondon wholesale meat market
- City of LondonLondon's original walled settlement
- criminal courtsForums adjudicating offenses
Suspended wall coverings
- gallowsExecution hanging apparatus
- scaffoldTemporary elevated work structure
- condemnedOfficially declared unfit
- public executionWitnessed state killing
capital punishment · reprieve · procession · drop · noose · ordinary · death warrant · last meal
Surname of Victorian novelist
- Great ExpectationsStrong anticipation of success
- broadsidesSimultaneous discharge of guns
- picaresqueRascally adventure narrative style
condemned
Officially declared unfit
jailers · warden · incarceration · cellblock · turnkey · irons · shackles · cells · dungeons · yard
penology
Study of punishment systems
- prison reformEfforts to improve incarceration
- conditionsPrevailing state of affairs
- squalorDirty, degraded living conditions
disease · overcrowding · debtors · philanthropy · Quakers · inspection · humanitarianism · abolition · transportation · penal reform
Old Bailey
England's chief criminal court
- Fleet StreetBritish journalism metonym
- SmithfieldLondon wholesale meat market
- City of LondonLondon's original walled settlement
hangings
Suspended wall coverings
- gallowsExecution hanging apparatus
- scaffoldTemporary elevated work structure
- condemnedOfficially declared unfit
public execution · capital punishment · reprieve · procession · drop · noose · ordinary · death warrant · last meal · crowd
Dickens
Surname of Victorian novelist
- Great ExpectationsStrong anticipation of success
- broadsidesSimultaneous discharge of guns
- picaresqueRascally adventure narrative style
- prisonsprison, inmates, cells, prisons, prisoner
- Victorian LondonLondon, Thames, Big Ben, Westminster, East End
- City of LondonCity of London, Guildhall, Lord Mayor, livery companies, aldermen
- Georgian crimecapital offenses, death penalty, hanging, transportation, public execution
- penal historyprison, prisons, gaols, jails, penitentiaries
- UK Prisonsprison, jail, gaol, Dartmoor, Strangeways
Newgateliberty
Absence of unjust constraint
freedom · emancipation · sanctuary · release · manumission
Newgatesanctuary
Protected sacred space
Westminster Abbey · refuge · asylum · monastery · haven
NewgateTower of London
Medieval riverside fortress
Westminster Abbey · Buckingham Palace · Windsor Castle · St Paul's Cathedral · St. Paul's Cathedral
new, newer, newest, newly, newness, renew, gate, gates, gated