KENT. MAIDSTONE. County Gaol, House of Correction, and Penitentiary. July 1824. THE principal alteration in these prisons, since the publication of the Society's last Report, is the completion of the tread-mill, which has been in full work since February last. Visiting-rooms, on the system originally practised at Gloucester gaol, have been built near the entrance lodge; and no convicted prisoner is allowed to see his or her friends elsewhere. An entire division of one of the largest wards and yards in the prison, for convicted misdemeanants, has been made, whereby a further separation of the hardened, from less experienced offenders, has been effected. Internal communications have also been made in different parts of the prison, by which a certain number of the sleeping-cells, of a class which is not full, may be applied to the service of one that is crowded; and every part of the prison may thus be made available at all times, and under all circumstances; an object now of great importance, in reference to the Act lately passed for enabling the magistrates of local jurisdictions to contract with those of an adjacent county, for the confinement of prisoners committed from such local jurisdiction. In six different parts of the prison two cells have been thrown into one, to meet the cases provided in section 49, of 4 Geo. 4, c. 64. Various alterations and enlargements are also nearly completed in the female prison, whereby it will be made to contain seven wards, with separate yards and day-rooms. The classification of the county prisons now consists of twentyseven wards for males, and seven for females, viz. In the gaol. Males : Females: 1. Ward for prisoners for trial for felonies. 1. 1. 1. convicted misdemeanants. In the house of correction and penitentiary. 6. Wards for penitentiary prisoners convicted of felonies. 1. 1. 1. sessions. poachers. summary convictions before justices out of 3..... vagrants. Females: 1. Penitentiary prisoners convicted of felonies. 1. Convicted misdemeanants, including summary convictions. 1. Vagrants. Religious books and tracts are distributed to the prisoners of every ward, under the superintendence of the chaplain; and various schools, both for males and females, are formed under his immediate inspection, with teachers selected by him from among the prisoners. Morning prayers are read by the chaplain, as required by the Act. The same description of manufactures is carried on as stated in the Society's last Report, and the produce is disposed of in the same manner. The great article of manufacture, is sacking: it is regularly transmitted to a house in the trade in London, and sold at a price that does little more than repay the county. A tread-mill, having three pair of stones, and a regulating fly, has been put up by contract, under the direction of Mr. Cubitt, and the machinery has been at work since February last. The prisoners work in eight divisions on eight wheels. When the women are employed, either one or two of these divisions (as the case may require) are, by shifting partitions, entirely closed from the sight of any of the men in the prison: within the women's yard, a female turnkey is always stationed, in a moveable sentrybox, and thus either ten or twenty women may be on the wheel at one time. For the males, the other divisions remain, each holding on an average ten prisoners on the wheel at once. The men work the full hours allowed by the Gaol Act. The women begin after breakfast, and work seven hours during four days in the week, and six hours and a half the other two: half the class of women is on, and half off; each woman steps from six to seven thousand feet per day. The men step from nine to fourteen thousand feet, and for the most part two-thirds of the class are on and one-third off. As a general rule, all persons sentenced to hard labour, who are not employed in the manufactory, are employed at the wheels, unless labouring under any infirmity. Two men are selected from the debtors, and receive weekly pay for superintending the male prisoners at the wheels, and they are besides frequently visited by the keeper and head turnkey. The mill-building, machinery, &c. cost about £3000. The miller is paid by the county 50 guineas per annum; and the entire use of the stones, dressing machine, &c. is let, for a year, to a firm of meal-men in the town, for £150. More meat is given to prisoners engaged at the mill, than to others, but to an amount rather below the average of the dietaries for tread-mill labour, as stated in the last Report of the Society. The result is, that prisoners of all classes, excepting debtors, are continually applying to be allowed to work at the mill. No ill effect whatever has been produced on the health of men or women by this species of corrective discipline, and as the conduct of the prisoners after conviction was generally good before it was introduced, and has continued so since, no visible effect upon their minds can be traced, it being too early yet to judge of the effect on the recommittal-book. Irons are only used in cases of attempts to escape, or of outrageous violence. Crimes, accompanied with acts of violence, are on the decrease; but the reverse must be said of less atrocious crimes, and especially of larcenies. The visiting justices, in their last Report to the court of general session, have stated that this must be expected, if no means are provided for putting prisoners, who are utterly friendless and have shown any signs of amendment, into some way of providing for themselves on their discharge, seeing that in most large parishes in the county, many poor persons, even of honest character, can find no market for their labour. There are, however, good grounds for expecting the speedy formation of a society in this county, of the same nature as that recently established in the county of Surrey, in order to alleviate, if not to remedy this evil. Female prisoners are under the care of a matron and one female turnkey, to whom a second will probably be added. There is also a female-searcher at the entrance-gate. The produce of the prison manufactory, for the year ending at Easter sessions 1824, was as follows: Cash paid to the county treasurer for goods L. s. d. sold, &c... Bills outstanding Goods, &c. used in the prisons. Goods and materials on hand.. 854 19 5 352 2 11 204 3 2 252 5 6 Total 1663 11 01 The cost of the ordinary establishment of the prisons, for the same period, exclusive of sums expended in the new buildings and tread-mill. 4781 13 11 Return of Commitments to the Kent County Prisons, from Easter Sessions 1823, to Easter Sessions 1824, inclusive. The total number of recommitments for the above period was 278, the proportion of which is as follows: 22 ths per cent. : MAIDSTONE. Town Gaol. July 1824. THIS very defective prison will, it is expected, be soon discontinued as a place of confinement. Previous to the passing of the new Prison Act, the corporation of the town had applied to the court of general sessions of the county, for leave to send prisoners committed within their jurisdiction to the county gaol, on condition of the corporation defraying the expenses of their maintenance, &c. Since the passing of the Act of 5 Geo. 4, cap. 85. the business has proceeded in a regular manner, according to the directions of the statute. In consequence, the visiting justices of the county prison have been authorised to make an arrangement with the town magistrates, for carrying this desirable object into effect; and this arrangement will probably be completed, and confirmed by the court, at the ensuing assizes. CANTERBURY. ST. AUGUSTINE'S. County Gaol and House of Correction for East Kent. Feb. 1824. THIS prison comprises three radiating buildings, each of which is subdivided, having six airing yards under central inspection and two other separate yards. A tread-mill was erected in this prison last year. It comprises three separate tread-wheels, or classes, as also three solitary stalls or divisions, which are used for prisoners who have been refractory or disorderly. No females are placed on the wheels. The number of prisoners the wheels will hold at one time is about 30. The prisoners work eight hours and a half per day, on an average throughout the year. The number of steps per |