Giltspur Street Compter

Giltspur Street Compter

Giltspur Street Compter, 1840
Location	London
Coordinates	51.5165°N 0.1016°W / 51.5165; -0.1016
Status	Closed
Opened	1791
Closed	1853
Notable prisoners
Robert Wedderburn

The Giltspur Street Compter was a compter or small prison, designed by English architect and surveyor George Dance the Younger, mainly used to hold debtors.^[1] It was in Giltspur Street, Smithfield, close to Newgate, in the City of London, between 1791 and 1853.^[2]

The compter was adjacent to Christ's Hospital Boys' School (1553-1902). Its construction began in 1787,^[3] and was ready for occupation in 1791. In 1815 it took some prisoners from the nearby Poultry Compter prior to its closure. The Giltspur Street prison was itself closed in 1853 and demolished in 1854,^[4] the site being later occupied by the King Edward Buildings Royal Mail Sorting Office.^[5]

Inmates

In 1831, Robert Wedderburn (radical) was arrested and sent to Giltspur Street Compter as he continued to campaign for freedom of speech, antislavery and working-class revolution.^[6]

References

1. Geoffrey Howse (19 January 2013). A History of London's Prisons. Pen & Sword Books. pp. 290–. ISBN 978-1-78303-067-5.
2. Rob Wills (5 May 2016). Alias Blind Larry: The Mostly True Memoir of James Laurence The Singing Convict. Australian Scholarly Publishing. pp. 60–. ISBN 978-1-925333-11-4.
3. Mitchel P. Roth (2006). Prisons and Prison Systems: A Global Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 79–. ISBN 978-0-313-32856-5.
4. "Giltspur Street compter". London Remembers. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
5. "Museum of London archaeological notes". Archived from the original on 26 March 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2007.
6. Junius P. Rodriguez (26 March 2015). Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World. Routledge. pp. 565–. ISBN 978-1-317-47180-6.