In the most recent newsletter in this series, I wrote about the history of legal punishment in England. Newgate as a discrete location is even older than English law and though not always a prison, Newgate Prison was an early, if not definitely the first, state prison in the country. As we’ll see here, Newgate operates as a simulacrum of the development of incarceration as punishment in England, while its reputation grew as a notorious, othered space within the city as London developed.
i thought this was so interesting! i don't read a lot of romances with prison plots, but when i do, newgate always seems like such a dark, demonic place. while it obviously was terrible and squalid, it was also in the center of london??
also very interesting that it perhaps had been around since Roman times in some capacity.
Finally had the chance to sit down and catch up on these and absolutely loving it.
I'm especially fascinated by the Newgate Calendar, which I hadn't heard of before but seems to have been a Big Deal?
Looking forward to the next one!!
i thought this was so interesting! i don't read a lot of romances with prison plots, but when i do, newgate always seems like such a dark, demonic place. while it obviously was terrible and squalid, it was also in the center of london??
also very interesting that it perhaps had been around since Roman times in some capacity.