ENGLISH RECORDS FOR DEBTORS PRISON

Press Release: New Records Reveal Those Imprisoned for Debt in England and more...

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Press Release: New Records Reveal Those Imprisoned for Debt in England The following was written by: The GenealogistThe Genealogist is expanding its Criminal  Records collection with the release of over 146,000 individuals who were listed in  prison records. Sourced from the PRIS 10 & PRIS 11 collections held at The National  Archives, these documents contain records from 1697 to 1862 and reveal those jailed  for debt or bankruptcy. These records will give family historians details of those imprisoned in debtors prisons including the King’s Bench Prison, Queen’s Prison, Fleet Prison and Marshalsea Prison.  They contain commitment and discharge records, giving details of names of the debtor,  creditor and attorney, along with the amount of debt. Use these records to: Find ancestors who were imprisoned for debts and bankruptcy Discover to who debts were owed See when individuals were discharged Within these records, we find John Dickens, father of the famous author Charles Dickens,  who was in debt to baker James Karr by the sum of 40 pounds. John was brought in to  custody on 20th February 1824 and was later discharged on 26th May 1824 when his  mother died leaving him enough money to pay off his debts. John Dickens’ custody record Charles Dickens had to earn a wage from a young age and his childhood experiences  affected him greatly. He used his experiences as background for the story of Little  Dorrit.