Europe, British Isles, England, Home Counties, Middlesex, Clerkenwell, Farringdon Road, Fleet Prison [Map]
Fleet Prison is in Farringdon Road.
In 1534 Richard Clement of Ingham Mote (age 52) was imprisoned in the Fleet Prison [Map] for having used excessive force in his roile as Justice of the Peace Kent during a property dispute in Shipbourne, Kent between the rector and Robert Brenner of Hadlow, a servant of Edward Guildford (age 60) who was the father-in-law of John Dudley 1504-1553 (age 30), the future Duke of Northumberland.
On 25 Aug 1537 Richard Tempest of Bracewell (age 57) died in Fleet Prison [Map].
In 1541 William Stafford (age 33) was committed to the Fleet Prison [Map] together with Sir John Clere and others for eating meat on Good Friday. After his release and a rebuke from the Privy Council he served on the campaign of that year in the Netherlands.
In 1543 Philip Hoby (age 38) was briefly imprisoned at Fleet Prison [Map] on suspicion of having heretical beliefs.
Diary of Edward VI. 16 Feb 1551. Whalley1 was examined for perswading divers nobles of the realme to make the duke of Somerset protectour at the next parleament, and stode to the denial, th'erl of Rutlande (age 24) affirming it manifestly.
Note 1. Richard Whalley, esquire, of Screaton, co. Nottingham, receiver of Yorkshire. "Feb. xvj. This daie th'erle of Rutlande (age 24) reported unto the counsaill certain ill practices and evil wordes used by mr. Whalley verie seditiouse and of greate importe; whereunto Whalley made deniall. But upon the debateing of the matter betweene them face to face, it appeared that mr. Whalley was culpable, for the whiche he was committed to the Fleete [Map]. Th'erle of Westmorelande (age 26) and baron Hilton were comaunded to repaire into their countreys for the more strength thereof in all events." — "Feb. xviij. Sir Frauncis Leeke was this daie called before the counsaill tooching the witnessing of the matter betweene th'erle of Rutland (age 24) and mr. Whalley, and examined upon ij . questions: First, wheather he reported to mr. Whalley a comunicacion of the lorde admyrall unto th'erle of Rutlande, in a question Wheather th'erle was a Somerset or a Warwicke, or a Lyncolneshire or Nottinghamshire. And the seconde, wheather th'erle of Rutlande, imediatelye after his taike with Whalley, reaported to mr. Leeke that he misliked much Whalley's talk. To the first he utterly denyeth that ther was any such comunicacion tooching my lord admirall. And to the ijde he saithe that, at th'erle's house, the earle asked him of Whalley whan he sawe him, who tolde him he sawe him of late att his house Marie, saith th'erle, he hathe beene here with me, and pratled very muche whiche I like not." — "April ij. Mr. Whalley bounden in M1. li. by recognisaunoe t'appeare from daie to daie, and t'abide suche order as the lordes shall awards. And thereupon discharged out of the Fleete." (Council Book.) He was sent to the Tower among Somerset's friends in the following October.
Diary of Edward VI. 22 Mar 1551. Sir Antony Browne (age 22) sent to the Mete for heriag masse5, with
Note 5. "March xix. This daie sergeant Morgan (age 40) was before the counsaill for heareing masse att Sainct Jones, in the ladie Maries house, ij. or iij. daies past; and not being able to excuse himselfe, bicause that being a learned man he shulde give so yll an example to others, he was comytted to the Fleete [Map]." — "March xxij. This daie sir Anthony Browne, knight, was examined before the counsaill, wheather he had of late hearde any masse or not. Whereunto he answered that indede twiese or thries at the New-hall and once at Rumforde, nowe as my ladie Marie was comeing hither about x. dales past, he had hearde masse: whiche being considered as a notable ill example, was thought requisite to be corrected. And therefore he was comitted to the Fleete [Map].'' (Council Book.) "Item the xxij day of Marche was Palme sonday, and on that daye were put into the Fleete dy vers gentlemen, as sir Antoni Browne, mr. [Morgan] sargant of the lawe, wyth dyvers other, for herynge of masse in my lady Mary's curte at sent Jones [Clerkenwell]." (Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London, p. 69.) "Male iiij. This dale sir Anthony Browne (age 22), knight, and Serjeant Morgan were brought before the counsaill, and upon their submission and knowledge of their offences, with warning to beware howe thei erred agayn, thei were dischardged, and set at libertie" (Council Book.) Sir Anthony Browne (age 22) was afterwards made viscount Montague and a knight of the Garter by queen Mary: and the Serjeant became a judge of the queen's bench. (See Machyn's Diary, p. 366.)
On 24 Mar 1551 Judge Richard Morgan was sent to Fleet Prison [Map] for hearing Mass at the chapel of Princess Mary.
In Nov 1552 William Stafford (age 44) was briefly committed to the Fleet Prison [Map] for having brawled with Adrian Poynings (age 40).
Henry Machyn's Diary. 31 Jul 1553. The sam tyme cam to the Flett [Map] the yerle of Ruttland (age 26) and my lord Russell (age 68), in hold. The qwen('s) (age 37) grace mad [sir Thomas] Jarnyngham [Note. Thomas a mistake for Henry] vyce-chamburlayn and captayne of the garde, and ser Edward Hastyngs (age 32) her grace mad ym the maister of the horsse the sam tym.
Wriothesley's Chronicle 25 Apr 1554. 25 Apr 1554. The 25 of Aprill the jurie that quitt Sir Nicholas Throckmorton appeared before the Lord Chauncellor and the Queens Councell in the Starre Chamber at Westminster and were committed to warde. Thomas Whetstone, haberdasher, which was the foreman of the jurie, and Emanuell Lucare, marchant taylor, were sent to the Tower of London [Map], and all the rest of the jurie were sent to the Fleete [Map].
Henry Machyn's Diary. After 14 Nov 1554. The (blank) day of November cam to the Fleet [Map] [Barlow (age 56)] sumtyme bysshope of (Bath and Wells), and master Kardmaker parsun of sant Brydes in Fletstret was the.... thay wher gohyng over see lyke marchands.
Henry Machyn's Diary. 10 Dec 1555. The x day of Desember was had to the Towre [Map] ser Anthony Kyngston (age 47) knyght, and to the Flett [Map], and cam owt a-gayn shortely aft
Note. P. 98. Committal of sir Anthony Kingston to the Tower. This was for his "contemptuous behaviour and greate disorder by him lately comytted in the Parlemente house." He was discharged on the 24th Dec. See the minutes of the privy council, Dec. 10, 11, 18, 24. (MS. Harl. 353, ff. 146, 147.) He soon after again got into disgrace, and, being summoned to attend the privy council, died on his road to London. See Bayley's History of the Tower, pp. 449, 450.
In May 1556 Edward St Lo (age 37) was imprisoned at the Fleet Prison [Map] for complicity in the Dudley Plot against Mary I.
Henry Machyn's Diary. After 07 Apr 1559. The (blank) day cam from Franse my lord chamburlayn Haward (age 38) and my lord bysshope of Elly (age 53) and master doctur Wotton, and (unfinished) .... ye Tempull, and ix .... dener, and ther dynyd the consell and dyvers notabyll .... and juges, and my lord mayre (age 50) and the althermen, and the [officers of the] Chansseres [Chancery] and the Flett [Map], and the Kyngesbynshe [Map], and the Marshalsea [Map]; [and they] gayff gownes of ij collers, morreys and mustars, and ... ij collers ... hondered; and at v of cloke at after-non [the new] serganttes whent unto sant Thomas of Acurs in a ... gowne and skarlette hodes a-bowt ther nekes, and whyt [hoods on] ther hedes, and no capes [caps]; and after they whent unto Powles [Map] with typstayffes and offesers of the Kyngbynche [Map], and odur plasses, and [they were] browth be ij old serganttes, one after a-nodur in skarlett ... of north syd, and ther thay stod tyll thay had brou[th them] unto ix sondre pellers [pillars] of the north syd, and after the ... cam unto the furst, and after to the reseduu; and thay whe[nt back] unto the Tempull on a-lone [one-by-one], and a-for whent the ... and the rulers and the Chansere and of the Kyngbynche [ij and ij to]gether, and after cam a hondered in parte cottes of ...
Note. P. 195. The serjeants' feast. This took place at the Inner Temple on the 19th of April. In the second line read, "and ix. [serjeants made]." Dugdale, indeed, gives the names of ten as having been called to the degree by writ tested by the queen on the 12th Dec. namely, Thomas Carus, Reginald Corbet, John Welsh, John Southcote, William Simmonds, George Wall, Richard Harper, Ranulph Cholmley, Nicholas Powtrell, and John Birch; and to these was added Richard Weston by writ dated 24 Jan. making in all eleven. Dugdale's Chronica Series.
Henry Machyn's Diary. 20 May 1560. The xx day of May was send to the Towre [Map] master Fecknam (age 45), docthur Wattsun (age 45) latt byshope of Lynkolne, and docthur Colle (age 60) latt dene of Powlles, and docthur Chadsay; and at nyght abowtt viij of the cloke was send to the Flett [Map] docthur Score (age 50), and master Fecknam (age 45) the last abbot of Westmynster, to Towre [Map].
Henry Machyn's Diary. 10 Jun 1560. The sam (day) was cared to the Flett [Map] docthur Colle (age 60) latt dene of Powlles.
Henry Machyn's Diary. 18 Oct 1561. The xviij day of October ther was (a) fray be-twyn my lord Montyguw('s) (age 32) men and my lord Delaware('s) (age 35) men, and after the ij lordes wher sent to the Flett [Map], and the men to the Masselsay [Map].
Henry Machyn's Diary. 22 Oct 1561. The xxij day of October my lord Montyguw (age 32) and my lord Delaware (age 35) wher delevered owtt of the Flett [Map] home.
In 1580 (possibly 1579) Dean Henry Cole (age 80) died at Fleet Prison [Map].
On 17 Jul 1583 Thomas Perrot (age 30) and Dorothy Devereux Countess Northumberland (age 19) were married. The marriage took place without the consent of the Queen to whom Dorothy was lady in Waiting for which Thomas was imprisoned in the Fleet Prison [Map]. She the daughter of Walter Devereux 1st Earl Essex and Lettice Knollys Countess Essex (age 39).
In Mar 1599 John Spencer was imprisoned ostensibly for having mis-treated his daughter albeit the accuser was William Compton 1st Earl of Northampton who was trying to marry the said daughter much to William's disapproval at Fleet Prison [Map].
In Feb 1601 William Herbert 3rd Earl Pembroke (age 20) was sent to Fleet Prison [Map] for refusing to marry Mary Fitton (age 22) when she became pregnant.
On 20 Oct 1602 Walter Leveson (age 52) died at the Fleet Prison [Map].
In May 1613 Thomas Killigrew (age 1) was caught talking to Thomas Overbury, a prisoner in the Tower of London [Map], and sent to the Fleet Prison [Map] for a short time. He was later accused of involvement in Overbury's murder, because he had supplied white powder to his patron, the Earl of Somerset (age 26), but exonerated.
In May 1613 Robert Killigrew (age 33) was imprisoned at Fleet Prison [Map].
On 17 Mar 1617 Gervase Clifton 1st Baron Clifton (age 47) was prosecuted by the Star Chamber and moved to Fleet Prison [Map].
On 14 Oct 1618 Gervase Clifton 1st Baron Clifton (age 48) stabbed himself to death in the Fleet Prison [Map]. His daughter Katherine Clifton Duchess Lennox (age 26) succeeded 2nd Baroness Clifton of Leighton Bromswold in Huntingdonshire.
In 1619 Walter Butler 11th Earl Ormonde 4th Earl Ossory (age 60) was imprisoned at Fleet Prison [Map] for opposing the King's scheme to bring an end to the feuding between the Fitzgerald and Butler families.39136:39136 Walter Butler 11th Earl Ormonde 4th Earl Ossory (age 60) was in prison for eight years.
Around Feb 1621 Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire (age 41) was imprisoned for attacking Emanuel Scrope 1st Earl of Sunderland (age 36) in front of the House of Lords in the presence the future King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland (age 20) at Fleet Prison [Map].
In Jan 1625 King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 58) signed a warrant for the trial for adultery of the Robert Howard (age 41) and Frances Coke Viscountess Purbeck (age 22) in the ecclesiastical Court of High Commission. The trial was likely at the instigation of her brother-in-law George Villiers 1st Duke of Buckingham (age 32). Robert Howard (age 41) was imprisoned at the Fleet Prison [Map]. She was placed under house arrest.
In 1627 Richard Ogle of Pinchbeck (age 74) died in Fleet Prison [Map].
In Jul 1627 William Coryton (age 47) was arrested for refusing to subscribe the forced loan of that year, and imprisoned in the Fleet Prison [Map], where he remained until March 1628.
Before 28 Feb 1632, the date he was buried at St Bride's Church, Cuthbert Halsall (age 59) died at Fleet Prison [Map].
On 21 Jun 1661 William Monson 1st Viscount Monson (age 62) surrendered himself to Parliament and was imprisoned at Fleet Prison [Map] for being a Regicide. On 01 Jul 1661 he was brought up to the bar of the House of Commons, and, after being made to confess his crime, was degraded from all his honours and titles and deprived of his property. He was also sentenced to be drawn from the Tower through the city of London to Tyburn [Map], and so back again, with a halter about his neck, and to be imprisoned for life.
Around 1672 William Monson 1st Viscount Monson (age 73) died at Fleet Prison [Map].
Evelyn's Diary. 27 Jun 1690. I went to visit some friends in the Tower [Map], when asking for Lord Clarendon, they by mistake directed me to the Earl of Torrington (age 42), who about three days before had been sent for from the fleet [Map], and put into the Tower [Map] for cowardice and not fighting the French fleet, which having beaten a squadron of the Hollanders, while Torrington (age 42) did nothing, did now ride masters of the sea, threatening a descent.
Evelyn's Diary. 06 Apr 1696. I visited Mr. Graham in the Fleet [Map].
In 1705 William Reresby 3rd Baronet (age 37) died at Fleet Prison [Map] having gambled away the family money and estates. His brother Leonard Reresby 4th Baronet (age 26) succeeded 4th Baronet Reresby of Thribergh in Yorkshire.
On 26 Aug 1723 William Barnesley of Eardisley Park (age 20) and Elizabeth Price (age 16) were married at the Fleet Prison [Map]. There was no issue from the marriage.
In or before 1731 Anne Hamilton (age 21) and Mary Edwards (age 26) were married in the Chapel of Fleet Prison [Map]. She was the richest woman in England at the time having aounrd £60000. Evidence of the marriage was scant; she never used the Hamilton name, although it was reported in the Gentleman's Magazine. She eventually separated from her husband making her children illegitimate. Somewhat curiously his baptism records show his surname as Edwardes.
On 13 Dec 1742 Thomas Heathcote 2nd Baronet (age 21) and Elizabeth Hinton (age 18) were married at the Fleet Prison [Map].
On 15 Dec 1785 King George IV of Great Britain and Ireland (age 23) and Maria Anne Smythe aka "Mrs Fitzherbert" (age 29) were married. The marriage was invalid under English civil law because his father had not given his consent. Her uncle Henry Errington and her brother John Smythe were witnesses. The ceremony was performed by one of the prince's Chaplains in Ordinary, the Reverend Robert Burt, whose debts of £500 were paid by the prince to release him from Fleet Prison [Map]. He the son of King George III of Great Britain and Ireland (age 47) and Charlotte Mecklenburg Strelitz Queen Consort England (age 41).
In 1797 Elizabeth Luttrell "Bad Lady Betty" (age 54) was imprisoned in the Fleet Prison [Map] for her gambling debts; and gave a hairdresser 50 pounds to marry her, which, according to the then state of the debtors' law, enabled her to procure a release.
In Jul 1831 William Pole Tylney Long Wellesley 4th Earl Mornington (age 43) was imprisoned in Fleet Prison [Map] for contempt of court.
