England, Devon, Plymouth Prison Records, 1821-1919

Plymouth Prison was built in 1849. The prison housed both male and female prisoners for a range of offences including desertion from prison, embezzlement, sodomy, drunkenness, murder, and prostitution, to name a few. By the late nineteenth century, the penal system had been studied and legislation such as the Prison Act 1898 had passed, which lead to public opinion shifting to the idea that a prison should be used to reform prisoners. Work was no longer used as punishment but to be productive. It was believed that a prisoner could reform and leave prison a better person. This index is published in cooperation with FindMyPast. For more information on the collection visit https://search.findmypast.com/search-world-Records/devon-plymouth-prison-records-1832-1919