ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the processes of release from debtors’ prison as derived from a quantitative examination of prison commitment registers. A common eighteenth-century phrase held that ‘a prison pays no debts’, a belief that has been repeated by subsequent dismissal of the debtors’ prison as a functioning institution from Charles Dickens to the modern day. While acknowledging the apparent lack of logic in confining the delinquent away from their place of work, the unabated use of the prisons by creditors suggests they saw some active usefulness to confinement beyond the passive concept of deterrence. This chapter shows that the majority of prisoners were released relatively quickly with very few individuals meeting the traditional stereotype of multi-year imprisonments. Through an analysis of all the stated means by which prisoners were freed, it is shown that the majority persuaded their creditors to agree to their release suggesting they had been satisfied. The insanitary nature of prisons is exaggerated as mortality rates were kept low for most of the period, prompting few prisoners to escape. While some were released in a manner that did not indicate payment of debts, this data reveals that generally a creditor choosing to confine a delinquent customer or trading partner was acting sensibly.
