NEWGATE PRISON AUCTION
HANSARD
Newgate Prison—Auction of Relics
§ MR. NORMAN I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if his attention has been called to the character of the scenes that took place at the recent auction of portions of His Majesty's late prison of Newgate, and to the fact that objects such as the prison bell, the flagstaff, the condemned criminals' seat in chapel, the fetters which hung for many years over the entrance, and other similar objects—some of historic interest —were sold for small sums for purposes of public exhibition; is he aware of the behaviour of persons in the execution shed during the sale; that other persons were seen digging for murderers' teeth and bones in the alley where executed criminals were buried; who was responsible for these arrangements; and what action, if any, he proposes to take in the matter.
§ *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. AKERS DOUGLAS,) Kent, St. Augustine At the time of the auction Newgate prison was in the possession of the authorities of the City of London. The building and fixtures, being no longer required for Government purposes, owing to the re-arrangement of London prisons, had been sold to the City, and handed over on 1st December last; and from that date passed out of my control. I do not think that there are any steps for me to take in the matter; but I may add that, before the prison was transferred, careful arrangements were made for the removal and interment elsewhere of the remains of those buried within its precincts, and I have no reason to believe that these arrangements were not fully and properly carried out.
HC Deb 19 February 1903 vol 118 cc285-6
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