Anyone unfortunate enough to fall into debt in the 18th and first half of
the 19th Centuries, except traders or farmers, faced a
dismal future of indefinite imprisonment if their creditors
so wished. These debtors did not qualify to become bankrupt.
The Debtors' Prison at York, built during 1701-5, is now
part of York Castle Museum. In the 18th Century it was also
a visitor attraction for those members of the gentry who
wished to see prisoners in the exercise yard. In order to
relieve prison overcrowding and show a modicum of mercy, a
series of Acts 'for the relief of insolvent debtors' were
passed during the 18th and early 19th Centuries, such as one
in 1755 which allowed those imprisoned for debt to apply to
a Justice of the Peace at the Quarter Sessions for their
release if they submitted details of all their assets so
that creditors could proceed with claiming the debtors'
property. Not until 1869 did imprisonment for debt stop,
apart from in some exceptional circumstances. Traders and
farmers could apply for bankruptcy and avoid imprisonment.
Details of debtors who applied to JPs for release from prison are given
in The London Gazette
and show several men and women from Tickhill tried to obtain
their release from prison in York and elsewhere. The following
are a few examples with the dates when they applied for their
release:
1755 |
Isabella Copley, widow (Debtors' Prison York)
|
1761 |
John Walker, apothecary (Fleet prison) |
1776 |
Adam Mickle, gardener (Marshlasea Prison) |
1781 |
Thomas Norman, innkeeper (Debtors' Prison York) |
1831 |
Frances Alderson, keeper of a Ladies' Academy (Debtors'
Prison York) |
1831 |
Richard Copley, joiner (Debtors' Prison York) |
1834 |
George Pailthorpe, formerly butcher and publican and
later cattle dealer, cheesemonger and black-beer
merchant (Debtors' Prison York) |
1844 |
Mary Ann Darby, spinster (Debtors' Prison York) |
Examples of Tickhill traders/farmers applying for bankruptcy are also
given in The London
Gazette. On 12 April 1844 John Bee, a printer, bookseller
and stationer in Tickhill, gave notice that he intended to
present a petition to the Commissioners of the Leeds District
Court of Bankruptcy praying to be examined about his debts and
to be protected upon making a full disclosure of his estate for
paying his debts. Bee survived this upheaval and continued
trading in Tickhill for many years. On 5 March 1858
The London Gazette
announced that John Sharp, a Tickhill innkeeper and farmer,
having been declared bankrupt was required to 'surrender
himself' to Martin John West, one of Her Majesty's Commissioners
of the Leeds District Court of Bankruptcy, at the Council Hall
in Sheffield on 27 March and 1 May. Sharp had to make a full
disclosure of his estate and effects and any creditors had to
appear with proof of the debts owed them.
These inhabitants of Tickhill represent a tiny proportion of the people
whose financial affairs went awry and were imprisoned or
declared bankrupt. The
London Gazette records many more names of those who suffered
this misfortune - see the website www.london-gazette.co.uk which
has a very good advanced search facility.
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