Pirates & Privateers: Caroline Jowett's Books

Although this book involves piracy on a peripheral basis, two infamous pirates – William Kidd and John Gow – spent time within the walls of this notorious prison. Divided into seven chapters, The History of Newgate Prison explores its history from its medieval beginning until its demolition in the first decade of the 20th century. Even though the Central Criminal Court of the Old Bailey now sits where Newgate Prison once stood and the prison has been gone for more than a century, people still remember this “hanging prison.”

Each chapter focuses on a specific period in the prison’s history: its earliest years, crimes and punishments, its existence under the Tudor and Stuart monarchs, effects of the Great Fire, the “republics” that sprang up in the first half of the 18th century, its rebirth in the second half, and prison reforms. In addition to being a history of Newgate, this book also traces the development of the English penal system from the days when the Normans occupied the country to its reformation during the Georgian and Victorian eras. Three appendices discuss Newgate’s more famous inmates, such as Robin Hood and Captain Kidd; depictions of the prison in art and literature; and the inmates’ secret language. Jowett also includes an index, a center section of illustrations, and a bibliography.

Even though there are only a few mentions of pirates, readers will find this book to be a fascinating account of what it was like to be a prisoner across the centuries. Entering the fortress prison’s gates didn’t necessarily mean an inmate had committed a crime; for many centuries it played host to debtors like Daniel Defoe and their innocent families. Chapter five dramatically explores a condemned person’s day of execution or what it meant to receive a sentence of transportation.

We think of prisons mostly as public institutions of incarceration, but Newgate was privately run and those imprisoned there had to pay for the “privilege” of entering, leaving, and residing within its walls. Jowett provides vivid descriptions, sometimes in her own words and sometimes in those of people who experienced it. By book’s end it’s easy to understand why this long-gone prison remains an indelible memory of times past. One may also comprehend why some chose to follow the short, but merry, life of a pirate instead of living within. When the back cover closes, readers will be thankful they were never “treated” to the experience of being a Newgate inmate.