The penitentiary realised

The Holford Committee submitted its first report on 31 May 1811, and just a year later the government appointed a committee of three to supervise the building of the new penitentiary. ² A national architectural contest was organised at the same time and at the end of June 1812 prizes were awarded to the three best entries. ³ The land originally bought by Bentham as the site of the Panopticon was transferred to the supervisors and construction commenced at the end of 1812. ⁴ Sufficient progress had been made by February 1816 for the supervisors to request the appointment of a management committee, ⁵ who were nominated without delay by the Prince Regent in Council. On 26 June 1816 the cell doors were locked on the first prisoners — a party of forty female convicts from Newgate. ⁶ Various problems with new buildings, and delays with those still uncompleted (largely due to subsidence), extended construction work until mid-1822, and almost doubled the original estimate of just over a quarter of a million pounds. The final outlay placed Millbank Penitentiary among the most expensive of English public buildings. ⁷