[ The Greenway Bank Fraud and Victorian 'Prison Rules'. ] Copy of Manuscript 'Statement by Mr Campbell on Greenway', headed 'In the matter of G. a prisoner', regarding an incident at Chatham Gaol resulting in the suspension of privileges.

Author: 
The Greenway Bank Fraud and Victorian 'Prison Rules', 1890 [ Sir Richard Harington (1861-1931) of Ridlington, 12th Baronet; Kelynge Greenway ]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. Docketed 'Rec[eive]d 26 Nov 1890'.
£56.00
SKU: 20065

3pp., 8vo. In good condition, on two leaves of lightly-aged paper, folded into a packet and docketed (by Harington?) on the outside 'Recd 26 Nov 1890 | Copy | Statement by Mr Campbell on Greenway'. Headed 'In the matter of G. a prisoner'. The document begins with an interpretation of the current arrangements: 'In accordance with the Prison Rules a prisoner under sentence of Penal servitude whilst he continues in the 3rd. class has the privilege of a letter and a visit each six months unless during that time by misconduct he forfeits such privileges should he be desirous of having a visit he notifies his wish to the Governor'. It continues with reference to the specific case: 'G. a convict at Chatham having earned the privilege duly made application and a notice or order dated 31 July 1890 attached <?> and marked A was sent – this entitled his wife at any time thereafter to avail herself of the privilege (which had been then earned) without giving notice before going to Chatham - | She was not able to go at once but a week after receiving the order she wrote to the Governor saying she proposed availing herself of the order in a day or two -'. The reply she received was a 'blow' which 'quite unnerved her – as her husband was not allowed to write and explain matters - | G. in course of an interview with the Govr was told that for his misconduct the visit would have to be postponed for four months – that his wife was terribly upset and he was led to infer that she had been to Chatham and had been refused admission'. The document proceeds to the 'facts of the misconduct': 'When prisoners are unlocked in the morning previous to going to work they stand at their cell doors waiting for orders – and one morning G saw on the opposite side of the corridor a man who worked in the same shop without thinking he smiled in recognition – nothing more he made no signal of any kind – a warder happened to see this reported him and G was brought before the Governor and punished by one day in the cells but no loss of class – This was the only time during his two years of imprisonment he had been reported | And he states that he had not the least idea that he was breaking any Prison Rule or had any thought of doing so.' | (There are a number of rules which a prisoner is supposed to know by intuition. There are none placed in cells and nothing can be got out of any of the officers.)' The document continues with a description of how the wife has been 'eight months without being able to see her husband or communicate with him', and concludes 'The break caused by removal should not operate so as to cause needless pain and anxiety to a prisoner's relatives should he have done nothing to forfeit privileges'. Greenway, Smith & Greenways, known as 'the Warwickshire bank', failed in 1887 as a result of fraud on the part of the partners. The matter was much reported in The Times, as was the subsequent trial. For the guilty verdict against Kelynge Greenway, see The Times, 31 July 1888 (under 'The Assizes. | Midland Circuit.').From the papers of the 'Mr. Harington' of the illustrations, i.e. Sir Richard Harington (1861-1931) of Ridlington, 12th Baronet, who practised on the Oxford and Midland Circuits before taking up an appointment as a Puisne Judge in the High Court of Justice at Fort William in Bengal, 1899-1913.