Bedfordshire Prisons

Bedfordshire Prisons

Bedford Prison

Erected 1801 by John Wing (also Bedford House of Industry) on a basic cruciform plan. H.M. Prison at Bedford was rebuilt in 1849 at a cost of about £23,000 on the separate or silent system. There are 176 cells for males and 8 for females. Houses for the Chief Warders are attached.

Prison Officers 1894

Chief Warder in Charge James Cranston
Chaplain Rev. Henry Waters
Surgeon Robert Henry Kinsey
Matron Mrs Mary Fox

Broadmoor

Originally called Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, located in Crowthorne, Berkshire. It opened for 95 female patients on 27th May 1863. The male section opened the following year. It changed from being a prison to a hospital on 1st April, 1948 under the National Health Service.

Records Available

Berkshire Record Office
9 Coley Avenue,
Reading,
RG1 6AF.
Tel: 0118 901 5132
http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/council/departments/leisure/countryside/bro/

Page updated August 06, 2007