Reference point: sheet: family relations
Prison populations of debtor-prisoners, commitments, sex ratio of imprisoned debtors, familial relations of imprisoned debtors, and the legal process of debtor incarceration.
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The prevalence of imprisonment for debt probably peaked in England about 1670. Nonetheless, imprisonment for debt remained significant about 1800.
Dataset sheets:
- total stats: total number of imprisoned debtors according to various sources, 1776-1820
- sex ratio: data on ratio of male to female debtor prisoners about 1800.
- family relations: share of male debtors with wives and children
- families in prison: wives and children living in prison with imprisoned male debtors
- commitments by prison 1800-18: commitment of debtors to individual prisons in 1800, 1810, and 1818
- debtor returns 1792: prisons reporting number of imprisoned debtors
- Duffy commitments 1798-1818: total debtor commitments yearly, according to Duffy
- legal process: size of debt and legal procedure by which debtors were imprisoned (bailable writes, mesne process, etc)
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