In 1817, Kirkcudbright Prison was built to replace the inadequate facilities in the Tolbooth. It was designed to replace both Civil e.g debtors and criminal prisoners. During its life the Tower prison was changed in design and eventually had single cell accommodation. It was briefly closed in the 1860s while the New Courthouse was built on the front of it hence the matching castellated design we see today.
Read the account by Don Cowell as to what happened to it in August 1883
In August 1883, 137 years ago, Kirkcudbright Prison closed and the last prisoners were transferred or released.
On August 13 1883 James Barton age 30, Shoemaker; Joseph Duggan age 2, Labourer; Henry Fildes age 47, Blacksmith; and Joseph Bell age 21,Labourer; were sentenced to two months imprisonment for poaching fish by Sheriff Gordon in Kirkcudbright. They served one day in Kirkcudbright Prison and were transferred to the new Prison in Dumfries on August 14. There are no further entries for criminal prisoners in the surviving Kirkcudbright Prison Jail Book.
On August 9 1883 John Higgins had been admitted to Kirkcudbright Prison. There is no record of his offence or sentence handed down. However it is recorded in the Jail Book that he dined and supped alone on August 14. On August 15 he was liberated. There are no further entries in the Prison Journal.
In Scotland change towards central funding and control of Prisons had been underway since the 1870’s. Under the Prisons (Scotland) Act 1877, the administration of Scottish Prisons became the responsibility of the Prison Commission for Scotland and the responsibility for funding Prisons passed to Parliament and Central Government. In 1878 the Commission took over 56 County Prisons and their funding. By 1879 the number of Prisons had been reduced to 43 and by 1882 to 35. The writing was on the wall for Kirkcudbright Prison with the building of a new Prison in Dumfries.
Since it had opened in 1817 Kirkcudbright Prison had become the most important Prison in the County of Kirkcudbrightshire. Apart from a period of temporary closure in the mid 1860’s while the new Court House was constructed. Over the years smaller local lock ups and Prisons elsewhere in the County at places like Castle Douglas, Creetown, Gatehouse of Fleet, Maxwelltown, and New Galloway had closed.
Surviving Prison records record thousands of Civil and Criminal prisoners who spent time in Kirkcudbright Prison. Some spent a few hours and days there; others were transported to Australia to serve sentences of 7 years or more.
The Prison was important to the local economy. Staff worked there and needed to be paid; staff and prisoners needed to be fed; prisoners and staff had to be clothed; prisoners were given work to do; premises had to be heated, cleaned, repaired and maintained. Prisoners had to be transported to Dumfries and Edinburgh for trial or to Perth for incarceration. The provision of these services gave trade to the tradesmen and shopkeepers of the town and beyond. Although Kirkcudbright prison was in relative terms a small provincial Prison it was of economic importance to the town.
The last words come from the web site of St Andrew’s and St Cuthbert’s Church:
“With the opening of a new prison in Dumfries …. the town jail and governors house were put up for sale. They were bought by captain R.D.Barre Cunninghame of Duchrae to provide a priests house, church school and playground. The prison governors house was retained to accommodate a resident priest (who was appointed in 1888). A chapel/school (the present church building) was erected in the prison exercise yard and the site of the pre reformation church of St Andrew. The architect was A.E. Purdue (1843 – 1920) of London noted for his Gothic revival style. In 1889 a new school was built (the present church hall). ”
So, by 1885 Kirkcudbright Prison had closed down. It had served the Scottish penal system for nearly 70 years. The significant tower building remains a notable feature of the town’s architectural landscape and a reminder of its past.
Donald Cowell.
August 2020
see also Kirkcudbright Prison in Victorian Times https://www.kirkcudbrighthistorysociety.org.uk/featured-article/kirkcudbright-prison-in-victorian-times/#more-153
and Kirkcudbright prison Records Revealed https://www.kirkcudbrighthistorysociety.org.uk/?s=kirkcudbright+prison+records+revealed
Plus a related talk by Donald Cowell on Convict Transportation to Australia from Dumfries and Galloway (1787 – 1869) and my convict Ancestors. https://www.kirkcudbrighthistorysociety.org.uk/news/convict-transportation-to-australia-from-dumfries-and-galloway-1787-1869-and-my-convict-ancestors/