"The Justice upon that point committed me, and I was carried to Newgate; that horrid place! my very Blood chills at the mention of its name; the Place, where so many of my Comrades had been lock'd up, and from whence they went to the fatal Tree"

When readers first meet Moll Flanders, she explains that she was born in Newgate Prison to a felon convicted of theft. She lives in Newgate for six months before her mother is transported to America and Moll is abandoned. Later on in her life, Moll returns to Newgate as a prisoner and faces execution by hanging for petty theft.

Newgate Prison, located in London, was probably the most notorious prison in all England. Newgate was divided into two sections. There was a Common area for poor prisoners and a State area for those who could afford more comfortable accommodation. These sections of the prison were further divided between debtors and felons. The women's section usually contained about 300 women and children.

Prisoners were held at Newgate while they awaited execution at Tyburn. In 1783 the gallows were moved from Tyburn to Newgate. Every Monday morning large crowds would assemble outside Newgate Prison to watch the men and women executed. A seat at one of the windows overlooking the gallows could cost up to 10 pounds (visit the Royal Mint for conversion rates). Public executions were abolished in 1868 and until 1901 prisoners were hanged inside Newgate. The picture above shows condemned prisoners at Newgate chapel on the Sunday before their execution.

A prison has stood on the Newgate site for almost a thousand years. The first prison was nearly as old as the Tower of London and much older than the Bastille. It is first mentioned in the reign of King John and in the following reign of Henry the III, (1218), the King expressly commands the sheriffs of London to repair it, and promised to repay them from his own exchequer. This shows that the prison was under the direct control of the King at that time. The prison itself was originally above the gate or in the gatehouse.

The process to conviction was called The Triple Tree: Newgate to the Old Bailey to Tyburn Tree.

TOPIC: Crime and Punshiment

ASSIGNMENT: Visit the rooms connected to Newgate and research information available through the links. Select either a criminal biography or a trial transcript to discuss. Be prepared to analyze the crime committed, the punishment meted out, and why the punishment would be considered to fit the crime.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Why does the society of Moll's time condemn petty thieves to death and yet condone the sexual eccentricities and excesses we see in the novel? Keep in mind our discussion of property in the period when formulating your response.

2. Moll is "converted" while in Newgate prison. Why? Does anything strike you as odd about her conversion and "rehabilitation"? Why does her conversion occur? Remember she claims she became addicted to theft, but notE too that she sees theft in practical, economic terms.

3. Is Moll naturally degenerate or criminal or is hers a learned behavior? If Moll is in fact a criminal, is she entirely and exclusively to blame for her criminality, or should we place part (or all) of the blame elsewhere? This is partly a question about the relative roles of heredity and environment in human development.

http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/completenewgate.htm