The Giltspur Street Compter was a

compter A compter, sometimes referred to as a counter, was a type of small England, English prison controlled by a sheriff. The inmates were usually civil prisoners, for example dissenters and debtors. Examples of compters include London's Wood Street Comp ...

or small

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

, designed by English architect and surveyor

George Dance the Younger George Dance the Younger RA (1 April 1741 – 14 January 1825) was an English architect and surveyor as well as a portraitist. The fifth and youngest son of the architect George Dance the Elder, he came from a family of architects, artist ...

, mainly used to hold debtors. It was in Giltspur Street, Smithfield, close to Newgate, in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, between 1791 and 1853. The compter was adjacent to Christ's Hospital Boys' School (1553-1902). Its construction began in 1787, and was ready for occupation in 1791. In 1815 it took some prisoners from the nearby Poultry Compter prior to its closure. The Giltspur Street prison was itself closed in 1853 and demolished in 1854, the site being later occupied by the King Edward Buildings Royal Mail Sorting Office.

Inmates

In 1831, Robert Wedderburn (radical) was arrested and sent to Giltspur Street Compter as he continued to campaign for

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

, antislavery and

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

References

Defunct prisons in London Former buildings and structures in the City of London Debtors' prisons 1791 establishments in England 1853 disestablishments in England Demolished prisons {{UK-prison-stub