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67-476: Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the River Fleet . The prison was built in 1197, was rebuilt several times, and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846. The prison was built in 1197 off what is now Farringdon Street , on the eastern bank of the River Fleet after which it was named. It came into particular prominence from being used as a place of reception for persons committed by

134-632: A Case the Gaols would not swarm as they now do ... In foreign Countries, where the Romish Religion prevails, what Crowds of People of both Sexes, from the highest Prince to the meanest Peasant, thrust themselves into Religious Houses ... it is an apparent Injury to the Country ... too obvious to be denied, that the many Prisons in England, where so many Thousands of both Sexes are detained, is a greater Loss and Injury to

201-569: A fee for when they entered and leave the prison. Prison cells ranged from luxurious private rooms to inmates who slept two in a bed. The very poor in prison were even known to beg through a grate while in prison. In 1666, during the Great Fire of London , it burned down on the third day of the fire, the prisoners fleeing in the last moments. After the fire, the warden of the prison, Sir Jeremy Whichcote , purchased Caron House in Lambeth in order to house

268-649: A highway to the north and the Metropolitan Railway , while the final upper section of the river was covered when Hampstead was expanded in the 1870s. The history of the River Fleet was documented by the 19th-century artist and historian Anthony Crosby . His sketches and notes are held in the Crosby Collection at The London Archives . The archive has been used extensively by researchers, historians and publishers to provide images and contemporary descriptions of

335-520: A hybrid colour scheme (SER maroon on the upper parts and LC&DR teak on the lower), the SE&;CR adopted the dark maroon/lake livery for passenger stock. Ex-LC&DR locomotives were renumbered by adding 459 to the running numbers (i.e. locomotive No 1 became No 460, etc.); SER locomotives retained their existing numbers. For a small and indigent company the Chatham was lucky in its locomotive engineers. After

402-493: A justice of the peace and authority given to raise loans. Once these major irregularities were exposed, the financial markets refused to continue lending to the LCDR and it became insolvent. In December 1863 Samuel Morton Peto , a partner in Peto and Betts, had joined the board of the LCDR as financial advisor. With the collapse of the company the accusation was made that Peto was party to

469-581: A line which ran through from Margate via Ramsgate to Minster did not take place until after the grouping . In 1936 the former tunnel to Ramsgate Harbour became part of the Tunnel Railway underground railway system linking Ramsgate beach to Hereson Road, near Dumpton Park mainline station. In 1923, the LCDR and the South Eastern Railway (SER), the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), and

536-451: A lot of work already for the LCDR, some of it via a close but separate partnership between Sir Morton Peto , Edward Betts , and Thomas Russell Crampton , the engineer for the LCDR. This new partnership, Peto, Betts and Crampton, in conjunction with the original partnership, Peto and Betts, agreed to build a line between London Bridge and Victoria for the LCDR and to be paid entirely in the company's shares and debentures. From its inception,

603-461: A pitiful apology it is! He, an experienced man of business, and the regular financial adviser to the company, disclaims all responsibility for unjustifiable financial actions, if only the company's solicitors tell hint that it is all right. Surely it is not a legal question, but a moral question, whether it is permissible to concoct fictitious documents for the purpose of evading the provisions of an Act of Parliament. Whom shall we in future trust? Here

670-465: A proof upon the proceedings for £360,000 or for £6,600,000, the result would, unfortunately be the same – in neither case would there be any dividend." The Pall Mall Gazette commented, "… the chase was costly and the game worthless." The personal reputations of Peto and Betts were destroyed and never recovered. Although also made personally bankrupt, Crampton came out of the episode with his reputation intact and continued in business. On 1 January 1899,

737-543: A station opened at New Brompton (renamed New Brompton (Gillingham) in May 1886 and Gillingham from 1 October 1912). Rochester station opened after the rival SER opened Chatham Central station. On 3 March 1858, the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway (WELCPR) opened the extension of its line from Norwood (Crystal Palace) to Beckenham Junction (opened as Beckenham) and Shortlands (opened as Bromley). On 22 November 1858,

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804-410: A very patchy start, with a miscellany of Cramptons and other oddities, it had two very competent engineers. William Martley was appointed in 1860, and commissioned some very effective performers, notably the 0-4-2 well tanks of the 'Scotchmen' (1866) and 'Large Scotchmen' (1873) classes for the suburban services; and the ' Europa ' class (1873) of 2-4-0s, which ran the mail trains to and from Dover,

871-444: Is Lombard-street ever to rely on having good debentures, when it finds men of the greatest repute and the highest standing offering it documents so very like debentures, but after all not real? ... Of course the company was primarily responsible; but Sir Morton Peto was acting as their trusted financial agent, ... and therefore he must be held responsible, not of course exclusively, but conjointly with those with whom he acted." The LCDR

938-414: Is Sir Morton Peto, saying expressly, ‘These debentures are not debentures; I do not know what they are, but debentures they are not. I got money on them, it is true, but they are not worth anything. They are only quasi things, and the good debentures are elsewhere.’ We have never seen the whole basis of railway credit so rudely shaken. We could not have believed that such a defence could have been offered. How

1005-622: Is able to make up his Affairs with the Creditor, how many Hundreds are afterwards kept in Prison for Chamber-Rent, and other unjust Demands of the Gaolers? ... What Barbarity can be greater, than for Gaolers (without any Provocation) to load Prisoners with Irons, and thrust them into Dungeons, and manacle them, and deny their Friends to visit them, and force them to pay excessive Prices for their Chamber-Rent, their Victuals and Drink; to open their Letters and seize

1072-612: The Charterhouse , now lately dammed up. A part of the course close to Charterhouse Square was excavated as part of the Crossrail project. The Fleet, which is now a sewer that follows its route, can be seen and heard through a grating in Ray Street, Clerkenwell in front of The Coach pub (formerly the Coach and Horses), just off Farringdon Road . The position of the river can still be seen in

1139-799: The Gordon Riots in 1780 Fleet Prison was again destroyed and rebuilt in 1781–1782. In 1842, in pursuance of an Act of Parliament, by which inmates of the Marshalsea , Fleet and Queen's Bench prisons were relocated to the Queen's Prison (as the Queen's Bench Prison was renamed), it was finally closed, and in 1844 sold to the Corporation of the City of London , by whom it was pulled down in 1846. The demolition yielded three million bricks, 50 tons of lead and 40,000 square feet (3,700 m) of paving. After lying empty for 17 years

1206-518: The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) were joined to form the Southern Railway . Both the South Eastern and London, Chatham and Dover Railway companies' locomotives were painted black each with their own style of lining but, when taken over by the South Eastern and Chatham Railways Managing Committee (SE&CR), dark green was adopted with an elaborate lining scheme. After some trials with

1273-465: The M series of 4-4-0 express passenger engines; and a final R series of enlarged 0-4-4 tanks. These rather than Stirling's Ashford products formed the basis for SE&CR development under Wainwright, not least because it was Robert Surtees from Longhedge who led design work for the successor organisation. The R series led to the SE&CR's R1 and subsequent H class ; the Bs to the famous C class ; and

1340-577: The Mid-Kent Railway constructed a line from New Beckenham to Beckenham Junction station and obtained running rights over the WELCPR to Bromley (Shortlands). From there the Crays Company was building a line on to Bromley South (opened as Bromley Common) and Bickley (opened as Southborough Road). The Mid Kent line connected with the WELCPR that later provided the essential access to London. After absorbing

1407-509: The Railways Act 1921 . The LCDR was always in a difficult financial situation and went bankrupt in 1867, although it was able to continue to operate. Many of the difficulties were caused by the intense competition and duplication of services with the South Eastern Railway (SER). In 1898, the LCDR agreed with the SER to share the operation of the two railways, working them as a single system, known as

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1474-529: The South Eastern and Chatham Railway , and pooling receipts, but it was not a full amalgamation. The SER and LCDR remained separate companies, with separate shareholders, until both became constituents of the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923. "The Chatham", as it was sometimes known, was often criticised for its lamentable carriage stock and poor punctuality, something which Somerset Maugham refers to in

1541-415: The South Eastern and Chatham Railways Joint Management Committee was formed to oversee joint working. On 5 August 1899, the South Eastern and London, Chatham and Dover Railways Act 1899 ( 62 & 63 Vict. c. clxviii) was passed, which resulted in the formation of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR). This was not a true merger since each company kept its individual board of directors within

1608-650: The Star Chamber , and, afterwards, as a debtor's prison and for persons imprisoned for contempt of court by the Court of Chancery . In 1381, during the Peasants' Revolt , it was deliberately destroyed by Wat Tyler 's men. During the 15th century, inmates were usually imprisoned here for civil rather than criminal cases, and the prison was considered at the time as more comfortable than Ludgate prison . Inmates had to pay for board and lodgings, provide tips for prison servants and pay

1675-454: The wharves that used to line this canal, especially used by the coastal coal trade from the north-east of England . (An adjacent narrow road, Seacoal Lane, also existed until the late 20th century, when the present building fronting onto Farringdon Street was built, perhaps suggesting that a new wharf had been built near the old one.) The upper canal, unpopular and unused, was from 1737 enclosed between Holborn and Ludgate Circus to form

1742-581: The " Fleet Market ". The lower part, the section from Ludgate Circus to the Thames, had been covered by 1769 for the opening of the new Blackfriars Bridge and was consequently named "New Bridge Street". The development of the Regent's Canal and urban growth covered the river in King's Cross and Camden from 1812. The Fleet Market was closed during the 1860s with the construction of Farringdon Road and Farringdon Street as

1809-621: The "Rules of the Fleet". From 1613 on, there were also many clandestine Fleet Marriages . The boundary of the Liberties of the Fleet included the north side of Ludgate Hill, the Old Bailey to Fleet Lane and along it until the Fleet Market , and ran alongside the prison to Ludgate Hill. The head of the prison was termed the warden , who was appointed by letters patent . It became a frequent practice of

1876-551: The 13th century, the river was called River of Wells. The small lane at the south-west end of New Bridge Street is called Watergate because it was the river entrance to Bridewell Palace . As London grew, the river became increasingly a sewer . The area came to be characterised by poor-quality housing and prisons: Bridewell Palace itself was converted into a prison; Newgate , Fleet and Ludgate prisons were all built in that area. In 1728 Alexander Pope wrote in his Dunciad , "To where Fleet-ditch with disemboguing streams / Rolls

1943-520: The 19th-century Fleet during the period when it was undergoing significant change. Sweepings from Butchers Stalls, Dung, Guts and Blood, Drown'd Puppies, stinking Sprats, all drench'd in Mud, Dead Cats and Turnip-Tops come tumbling down the Flood. London, Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway ( LCDR or LC&DR ) was a railway company in south-eastern England . It

2010-745: The Charity that is sent them; and, in short, by oppressing them by all the Ways that the worst of Tyrants can invent? Such Cruelty reduces the Prisoners to Despair, insomuch, that many choose rather to shoot, hang or throw themselves out of the Window, than to be insulted, beaten and imposed upon by the Gaolers ... if every Gaoler was allowed a yearly Sallary ... and no Gaoler suffered, under the severest of Penalties, to take either Bribe, Fee, or Reward, no Demand for Chamber-Rent, nor any Fees for Entrance or going out of Prison; in such

2077-524: The Chatham's crack service. William Kirtley came from the Midland Railway in 1874, following the death of Martley. He was the nephew of Matthew Kirtley , the Midland's famous locomotive superintendent. Kirtley produced a series of excellent designs, robust and good performers — the A series of 0-4-4 tanks for suburban services, the B series of 0-6-0 goods engines; the T class of shunting engines;

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2144-667: The Crays Company and gaining running rights over the Mid Kent metals to Beckenham Junction, the LCDR later bought the track between Beckenham Junction, Birkbeck and Bromley Junction, while the LBSCR absorbed the rest of the WELCPR. In 1859, the EKR changed its name to the LCDR, although Dover had not then been reached, coinciding with the Western Extension via Longfield to join the Crays Company rails at Southborough Road (now Bickley). Authorised from

2211-613: The Fleet was a major river, with its estuary possibly containing the oldest tidal mill in the world. The river secured the western flank of the Roman City. In Anglo-Saxon times, the Fleet was still a substantial body of water, joining the Thames through a marshy tidal basin over 100 yards (91 m) wide at the mouth of the Fleet Valley. Many wells were built along its banks, and some on springs (Bagnigge Wells, Clerkenwell ) and St Bride's Well, were reputed to have healing qualities; in

2278-479: The Fleet, which passes alongside it. King's Cross was originally named Battle Bridge , a corruption of Broad Ford Bridge referring to an older crossing of the Fleet. In turn John Nelson in his The History, Topography, and Antiquities of the Parish of St. Mary Islington of 1811 linked a supposed Roman army camp found under some nearby brick fields with the site of Boudica 's final battle, based only on his comparison of

2345-654: The Highgate Ponds . They then go underground, pass under Kentish Town , join in Camden Town , and flow onwards towards St Pancras Old Church , which was sited on the river's banks. From there the river passed in a sinuous course which is responsible for the unusual building line adjacent to King's Cross station; the German Gymnasium faced the river banks, and the curve of the Great Northern Hotel follows that of

2412-413: The King and Country ... Other notable inmates include: [REDACTED] Media related to Fleet Prison at Wikimedia Commons River Fleet The River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers , all of which today contain foul water for treatment. It has been used as a culverted sewer since the development of Joseph Bazalgette 's London sewer system in the mid-19th century with

2479-413: The LCDR accounts written up to make it look as though either the associated cash payment had been made directly to Peto and Betts to fund the construction of the line, or the money, having been paid to the railway company, had temporarily been lent back to the new shareholders. In fact, no cash had changed hands at all, but on the strength of these fictitious entries, the statutory declaration was made before

2546-418: The LCDR was known to be under capitalized. With the collapse of the bank Overend, Gurney and Company in May 1866, it became apparent that the LCDR had been funding its construction by operating a series of schemes to evade the loan restriction requirements and borrow money that was not secured in the way the law required. Shares had been issued in the names of Peto, Betts, Crampton and their acquaintances, and

2613-454: The SER agreed not to oppose any future application for an extension of the line to Dover, which was granted in 1855. It took the EKR several years to raise the necessary finance and it was not until 25 January 1858 that the first section of the line from Chatham to Faversham was opened, with stations at Rainham , Sittingbourne , Teynham , and Faversham . On 29 March 1858, a second section opened, from Strood to Chatham. Around July 1858,

2680-650: The Strand . In the 1970s, a London Underground tube line was planned to lie under the line of Fleet Street, provisionally named the Fleet line . However, it was renamed the Jubilee line in 1977, and plans for the part of the route through the City of London were subsequently abandoned The Fleet rises on Hampstead Heath as two sources, which flow on the surface as the Hampstead Ponds and

2747-572: The Thameswalk exit of Blackfriars station , immediately under Blackfriars bridge . (The tunnel exit shown in the picture can be seen much more clearly from directly above.) The former mayor of London , Boris Johnson , proposed opening short sections of the Fleet and other rivers for ornamental purposes, although the Environment Agency – which manages the project – is pessimistic that the Fleet can be among those uncovered. In Roman times,

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2814-441: The borrowing powers of the company to one-third of its authorised share capital to ensure there was a proper balance between share capital and loans. These standard clauses also required that before any loans could be taken, all of the share capital must have been subscribed for, at least 50% paid for and the payment proved to the satisfaction of a justice of the peace . The railway construction partnership Peto and Betts had done

2881-399: The company solicitors retorted that they had never done anything of the kind, and that they regarded any attempt to borrow money, except on the basis of "a bona fide subscription and a bona fide payment of half the capital," as "utterly indefensible." Peto's attitudes were not unique. One of his supporters (and himself a railway director and deputy chairman) made a statement to the meeting to

2948-482: The dissatisfaction felt by the inhabitants and businesses of towns in north and east Kent with the services provided by the SER, resulting in the formation of the East Kent Railway (EKR). Permission to build a new line from Strood near Rochester to Faversham was granted by Parliament in 1853, but the SER successfully fought off an attempt by the new company to secure running powers on its tracks. In return,

3015-599: The eastern end of which is at what was the crossing over the river known as Fleet Bridge, and is now the site of Ludgate Circus . The river's name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon flēot "tidal inlet ". In Anglo-Saxon times, the Fleet served as a dock for shipping . The lower reaches of the river were known as the Holbourne (or Oldbourne), from which Holborn derived its name. The river gives its name to Fleet Street which runs from Ludgate Circus to Temple Bar at

3082-474: The effect that railway boards of directors cannot afford to be too nice, "It is very difficult to make a railway out of nothing … Parliamentary requirements almost necessitate the doing of things which are not strictly right and proper." Financial commentators were scandalised. Typical of the comments published were: Of course, we may expect to hear more about this part of the question; but even supposing Sir Morton Peto's apology to be true in point of fact, what

3149-401: The former river marks the western boundary of Clerkenwell , the eastern boundary of Holborn and a small part of the eastern boundary of St Pancras . In this way it continues to form part of the boundary of the modern London Boroughs of Camden and Islington . At Farringdon Street the valley broadens out and straightens to join the Thames beneath Blackfriars Bridge . In the lower reaches,

3216-468: The future site of Nunhead on 28 July 1863; Nunhead opened 1 September 1871; Greenwich Park branch opened from Nunhead to Blackheath Hill on 18 September 1871; opened through to Greenwich Park on 1 October 1888. Stations on the Greenwich Branch were Parliament had established standard clauses that were included in the authorising acts of Parliament for all railway companies that specifically limited

3283-526: The highest fees in England. There was even a grille built into the Farringdon Street prison wall, so that prisoners might beg alms from passers-by. But prisoners did not necessarily have to live within Fleet Prison itself; as long as they paid the keeper to compensate him for loss of earnings, they could take lodgings within a particular area outside the prison walls called the " Liberty of the Fleet" or

3350-452: The holder of the patent to farm out the prison to the highest bidder. This custom made the prison long notorious for the cruelties inflicted on prisoners. One purchaser of the office, Thomas Bambridge , who became warden in 1728, was of particularly evil repute. He was guilty of the greatest extortions upon prisoners, and, according to a committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire into

3417-515: 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". Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, architect Christopher Wren 's proposal for widening the river was rejected. Rather, the Fleet was converted into the New Canal, completed in 1680 under the supervision of Robert Hooke . Newcastle Close and Old Seacoal Lane (now just short alleyways off Farringdon Street) recall

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3484-430: The local topography with the scant description of the battlefield supplied by the near-contemporary historian Tacitus . The name was changed in the 19th century to refer to an unpopular statue of George IV erected in 1830 but, although it was replaced after only fifteen years, the name remains. From there, it heads down King's Cross Road and other streets, including Farringdon Road and Farringdon Street . The line of

3551-452: The north. The sweeping curve of Roger Street is part of that boundary line. The Fagswell Brook (also spelled Faggeswell ) was a tributary that joined the Fleet from the east and partially formed the northern boundary of the City of London. The brook flowed east to west on a line approximating to Charterhouse Street and Charterhouse Square . In 1603, the historian John Stow described its demise: Fagges Well, neare unto Smithfield by

3618-548: The novel Mrs Craddock : "Suddenly she thought of going away there and then... But there were no trains: the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway has perhaps saved many an elopement". However, in two respects the LCDR was very enterprising: it used the highly effective Westinghouse air brake on its passenger stock, and the Sykes "Lock and Block" system of signalling. As a result, it had an excellent safety record. The LCDR originated through

3685-509: The organisation. The rolling stock and steamboats of the two companies were thereafter worked as one concern. Some rationalisation of competing stations occurred but it was not fully resolved. Between 1902 and 1904, connections were built to allow LCDR trains through running on ex-SER lines, notably in the Bickley area where the two main lines crossed. The rationalisation of the lines in Thanet to create

3752-406: The peace and authority given to raise loans. However, Peto did not consider himself in any way to be at any fault. In his view, as it was the LCDR company solicitors that had suggested this course of action, and had drawn up the fraudulent statutory declaration and the loan documentation papers, he did not think that he should shoulder any of the blame. When they heard how Peto had implicated them,

3819-568: The prison's debtors. Whichcote then rebuilt the prison on the original site at his own expense. During the 18th century, Fleet Prison was mainly used for debtors and bankrupts. It usually contained about 300 prisoners and their families. Like the Marshalsea prison, it was divided into a restrictive and arduous common side and a more open master's side , where rent had to be paid. At that time, prisons were profit-making enterprises. Prisoners had to pay for food and lodging. There were fees for turning keys and for taking irons off, and Fleet Prison had

3886-572: The scheme to circumvent the loan restrictions. At the time of the LCDR insolvency Peto was the Liberal Member of Parliament for Bristol, and on 22 October 1866 addressed a meeting in Bristol to explain his involvement with the LCDR. Although reports of the meeting are very complimentary and sympathetic to Peto, further contemporary analysis was less so. At the Bristol meeting, Peto was quite open with his admission that his business, Peto and Betts,

3953-415: The site was sold to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway and became the site of their new Ludgate station . In 1601, the poet John Donne was imprisoned until it was proven that his wedding to Anne Donne (née More) was legal and valid. The priest who married him ( Samuel Brooke ) and the man who acted as witness to the wedding were also imprisoned. Samuel Byrom, son of the writer and poet John Byrom ,

4020-448: The state of English gaols, arbitrarily and unlawfully loaded with irons, put into dungeons , and destroyed prisoners for debt, treating them in the most barbarous and cruel manner, in high violation and contempt of the laws. He was committed to Newgate Prison , and an act, the Warden of Fleet Prison Act 1728 ( 2 Geo. 2 . c. 32), was passed to prevent his enjoying the office of warden. During

4087-465: The surrounding streetscape with Ray Street and its continuation, Warner Street, lying in a valley where the river once flowed. It can also be heard through a grid in the centre of Charterhouse Street , where it joins Farringdon Road (on the Smithfield side of the junction). In wet weather (when the sewer system is overloaded), and on a very low tide, the murky Fleet can be seen gushing into the Thames from

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4154-446: The valley slopes in the surrounding streets which explains the presence of three viaduct bridges (at Holborn Viaduct across Farringdon Street, another over Shoe Lane, and another on Rosebery Avenue where it crosses Warner Street). A small tributary flowed west to east to join the Fleet near Mount Pleasant . This was later utilised to feed Lamb's Conduit . The line of the original brook formed Holborn 's boundary with St Pancras to

4221-490: The water being treated at Beckton Sewage Treatment Works . Its headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath , each of which was dammed into a series of ponds—the Hampstead Ponds and the Highgate Ponds —in the 18th century. At the southern edge of Hampstead Heath these descend underground as sewers and join in Camden Town . The waters flow 4 miles (6 km) from the ponds. The river gives its name to Fleet Street ,

4288-536: Was created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London , and northern and eastern Kent , to form a significant part of the Greater London commuter network. The company existed until 31 December 1922, when its assets were merged with those of other companies to form the Southern Railway as a result of the grouping determined by

4355-546: Was imprisoned for debt in 1725. In 1729 he sent a petition to his old school friend, the Duke of Dorset , in which he raged against the injustices of the system: Holland, the most unpolite Country in the World, uses Debtors with Mildness, and Malefactors with Rigour; England, on the contrary, shews Mercy to Murtherers and Robbers, but of poor Debtors Impossibilities are demanded ... if the Debtor

4422-400: Was party to a scheme where they would give the LCDR a receipt for money paid to them as contractors, and the LCDR gave Peto and Betts a counter-receipt for money paid "for deposit, and in anticipation of calls." It was made to appear that share capital had been paid which had not been paid. On the strength of these fictitious receipts, again, the statutory declaration was made before a justice of

4489-482: Was refinanced. The original shareholders lost their investment and the board of directors and company solicitors replaced. The new board resolved to pursue Peto, Betts and Crampton and made a "staggering" claim against them personally for £6,661,941 19s 1d. (equivalent to £779,550,000 as of 2023). Peto, Betts and Crampton admitted to owing the LCDR £365,000 and eventually the railway acquiesced to this figure. The railway's new solicitors declared, "Whether my clients had

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