Saturday 7 February 1846
WISBECH. – . . . Shocking Case. – On Tuesday the investigation of a charge of an unnatural offence took place before the Mayor, Wm. Stevens, Esq., Dr. Whitsed, and J. R. Weatherhead, Esq. – Wm. Lloyd, who is charged with having committed the offence, and the witnesses being prisoners at present under confinement, the inquiry took place within the walls of the prison. The particulars of the evidence are of course quite unfit for publication, being of such a character as to determine the magistrates to inform the prisoner Lloyd that he would be committed to the assizes for trial upon the charge. The bad construction and limited accommodation of the present delapidated prison at Wisbech are very defective. (Cambridge Independent Press)
Saturday 14 February 1846
WISBECH. – Police News. – . . . On Tuesday, Loyd, one of the men charged with an unnatural offence at the old House of Correction, was committed for trial at Cambridge assizes. (Cambride Independent Press)
Saturday 7 March 1846
The Assizes. – The following prisoners in the County Gaol are for trial at the Assizes, which commence on the 13th inst., before Mr. Baron Parke, and Mr. Justice Maule. . . . Wm. Lloyd (26), Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, labourer, charged with having, in Wisbech gaol, committed an abominable crime on the person of a fellow prisoner. (Cambridge Independent Press)
Saturday 21 March 1846
ANOTHER ABOMINABLE OFFENCE. – William Loyd (26), was indicted for having committed an abominable offence, on the 1st of February. – Mr. NAYLOR for the prosecution; the prisoner was not defended. – The offence was committed upon a fellow prisoner, named Blanks, in Wisbech gaol. During the disgusting details, the persons in the court burst into loud laughter, when his LORDSHIP observed that he was sorry to see such a crime so popular in the place. – Guilty: Sentence of Death recorded. (Cambridge Independent Press)
CITATION: If you cite this Web page, please use the following citation:
SOURCE: Various newspapers, dates as given.
Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Sex in Wisbech Gaol, 1846",
Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 28 April 2017
<http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1846wisb.htm>.
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