19th Century Personal Debt - Dornoch Jail

[sgmcgregor]

Hello all,

I was wondering if someone could shed some light on a query I have.

I have a record for James Dallas, Saddler, being held in Dornoch Jail in 1818 because he had an unpaid debt to a company in Edinburgh. While he was being held, he was arrested on a second charge of an unpaid debt to a company in Berwick. James Dallas latterly moved to Wick and ran a saddlery business in Bridge Street.

What I want to know is how the prison sentence related to unpaid debt - was there a required period of internment? Could he serve a sentence, and then be released a free man?

I have an inkling about "Debtors Prisons", but I don't think Dornoch would come under the specific term of being a "Debtors Prison". I've googled the search term, but I don't know if it is leading me down a dead end.

Can anyone who is more knowledgable enlighten me as to the process involved?

Steven

[marionq]

The main reason for holding people in a debtor's prison was to force the hand of the family to come up with the money to pay the debt either by selling what they had or by raising the money from another family member. It would have made more sense in some cases to let them work off the debt but that's not how things were done. So people could pretty much rot away in prison if no money was forthcoming.

Charles Dicken's was the best exponent of the iniquities of the prison system amongst other social horrors in eg Bleak House or Little Dorrit in particular.

[sgmcgregor]

Thanks for your reply. Sorry for taking a while to reply, but I'd given up on getting a reply to this message, so I was surprised to see one.

Thank you for your input. If what you say is true, it's shocking to think that there could be no limit on the prison term. You are there until you pay back the money, but you can't earn money while in jail, and would people be generous enough to "loan" you the money?

I've found some more details since I posted, and James Dallas could have afforded to raise the money somehow. In 1818 he was running a saddlery business in Golspie, and in April 1817 he had opened another shop in Wick. It was here that he later moved, and he ran the business for about 50 years in Wick, it later being taken over by a grandson, James Wares, who ran it until his death in 1899.

Also, when James came north to Wick, he bought a large house and a lot of land in Gallowhill (near where Bignold Hospital used to be). So he had the money.

However, I've since researched a comment made in the last entry for Dornoch Jail. It mentions Cessio Honorum, which is correctly known as Cession Bonorum. James instigated a hearing through the Court of Session, and this required the creditors to attend a meeting where James would argue that his inability to pay was through circumstances outwith his control - that is to say his actions were not fraudulent, but mere bad luck.

This must have been successful, as he ends up in Wick.

Well, there you go. Hopefully you are still awake, and thank you again for your input.

Steven