In the early nineteenth century Glasgow had many large brothels. The reputation of some, like the notorious ‘Triple Decker’ which occupied three storeys, spread even to London. The surgeon at the lock hospital recalled that at night the brothels were brilliantly lit up, and sounds of ‘riot were to be heard at all hours’. Legislation granting municipal authorities the power to suppress brothels and soliciting was included in the Police Act of 1843, which was amended in 1862 and again in 1866. The development of the system for the policing and control of Street soliciting and brothels used in Glasgow after 1870 can be largely attributed to the initiative of the directors of the Glasgow Magdalene Institution. The Lock Hospital continued to be a non-statutory charity for indigent women with venereal disease who were considered to be ‘prostitutes’. During the 1870s and 1880s the Magdalene Institution continued to be filled to capacity.