Nature of Source
Bankruptcy records offer an insight into our ancestors financial struggles, business ventures, personal possessions and social status.
Understanding Bankruptcy and Insolvency
Prior to 1869, there was a distinction between insolvent debtors and bankrupts:
Insolvent Debtors
Prior to 1869, the treatment of debtors in England was harsh. Insolvent debtors (those unable to pay their debts) could be sent to debtors’ prisons or held in special quarters within local prisons until their debts were cleared or a petition for release was accepted. They could remain in prison indefinitely if they were unable to settle their debts or if a creditor refused to petition for their release. This form of imprisonment was primarily reserved for non-traders.
Bankrupts
Bankrupt debtors were usually artisans, traders or merchants and had more legal options which meant they could avoid the courts and potentially prison by paying their creditors.
This distinction was abolished in 1861, and after 1869, all debtors were classed as bankrupts. Imprisonment for debt was gradually phased out, with the final option removed by the Administration of Justice Act of 1970
Key Record Sources
Several types of records may contain information when researching bankrupt ancestors, including:
Court Statements and Creditor Affidavits: These documents detail the nature of the debt and claims made by creditors.
Bankruptcy Orders: Official declarations of bankruptcy.
Petitions for Release from Prison: Insolvent debtors could petition Justices of the Peace for their release from prison.
Admission and Discharge from Prison Records: These provide details of when a debtor entered or left a prison.
Bankruptcy Commission Files and Dockets: These records contain the legal proceedings surrounding the bankruptcy.
Registers of Petitions for Protection from Process: Debtors would apply for protection from their creditors to avoid further legal action.
Quarter Session records: For those actually sent to prison.
Coroner’s Inquest: For debtors that died in prison.
Bankruptcy records were required to be kept for 25 years after which they could be destroyed
Published Sources
Bankruptcy proceedings were often published various periodicals and newspapers:
- Gentleman’s Magazine
- The Times
- London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes
- The Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes
- Perry’s Bankruptcy (later known as Insolvent Gazette)
- Perry’s Gazette
- National and local newspapers
Debtors’ Prisons in London
In the 18th and 19th centuries, London had five main debtors’ prisons:
- The Fleet Prison (closed 1842)
- Faringdon Prison (closed 1846)
- King’s Bench Prison, Southwark (closed 1880)
- Whitecross Street Prison, Islington (closed 1870)
- The Marshalsea Prison, Southwark (closed 1842)
Legal Proceedings and Courts
Before 1571, cases of bankruptcy were heard in the King’s Bench or Court of Common Pleas. After this date, cases were handled by the Chancery Court. In 1832, the Court of Bankruptcy was established. Creditors would petition Lord Chancellor for a Commission of Bankruptcy. Once the commission declared the debtor bankrupt, a notice was published in the London Gazette. If the debtor discharged their debts, they received a Certificate of Conformity.
In 1842, District Bankruptcy Courts were set up outside London. After 1869, these district courts merged with the County Courts. In the same year, the London Court of Bankruptcy was established. This court was incorporated into the High Court of Justice in 1884, where bankruptcy cases continued to be heard.
Bankruptcy in Scotland
It’s worth noting that bankruptcy in Scotland has been treated differently from England. In Scotland, personal bankruptcy is referred to as sequestration and is governed by its own distinct legal procedures.
See also
London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes Online
Quarter Session Records
Where Found
- Series B, Records of the Office of the Commissioners of Bankrupts, the successor bankruptcy courts, and the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors, 1710-2000.
- Series B 8, Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors and Office of the Commissioners of Bankrupts and successors: Indexes, 1820-1870.
- Series B 6/45-71, Registers of Documents Filed in Bankruptcy Proceedings: Petitions of Prisoners.
- Series PRIS 1, Fleet Prison: Commitment Books, 1686-1842
- Series PRIS 2, Fleet Prison: Commitments Files, 1758-1842. Search within or browse this series to find specific records of interest.
- Series PRIS 3, Fleet Prison: Discharges, 1775-1857. Search within or browse this series to find specific records of interest.
- Series PRIS 4, King’s (Queen’s) Bench Prison and Queen’s Prison: Commitment Books, 1719-1862. Search within or browse this series to find specific records of interest.
- Series PRIS 5, King’s Bench Prison: Abstract Books of Commitments, 1780-1815. Search within or browse this series to find specific records of interest.
- Series PRIS 6, Queen’s Prison: Commitments to Strong Room, 1847-1862.
- Series PRIS 7, King’s Bench Prison and Queen’s Prison: Discharges, 1776-1862
- Series PRIS 8, King’s (Queen’s) Bench Prison and Queen’s Prison: Execution Books, 1758-1852.
- Series PRIS 9, Queen’s Prison: Miscellaneous Books, 1842-1862
- Series PRIS 10, King’s (Queen’s) Bench, Fleet, Marshalsea and Queen’s Prisons: Miscellanea.
- Series PRIS 11, Prison of the Marshalsea of the King’s Household and Palace Court, and the Queen’s Prison: Records, 1773-1861.
- Series BT 293, Board of Trade: Official Receivers Branch: Search Registers and Indexes, 1884-1923.
County Record Offices
Local archives offer variety of debtor and insolvency records including:
Quarter Sessions Records and Court Records
Petitions for release from debtors’ prison.
Lists of imprisoned debtors.
Records of local courts that dealt with small debts, like the Courts of Requests.
County Court records, from 1846 onwards.
Prison Records
Admission and discharge registers.
Calendars of prisoners.
Bankruptcy Records.
Bankruptcy commission files.
Registers of bankruptcy petitions.
Bankruptcy discharge certificates.
Local Newspapers
Published notices about bankruptcies and insolvencies.
The London Archives
Whitecross Street prison records including accounts, plans and lists of prisoners, 1812-1876.
National Records of Scotland
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
Period Covered
1710 – Onwards
Genealogical Value
- Names, addresses, occupation and age of debtor.
- Inventory of personal and real estate of debtor.
- Name, home and business address and occupation or trade of creditor.
Further References
- Barty-King, Hugh. The Worst Poverty: A History of Debt and Debtors: Sutton Publishing, 1991
- Blake, Paul. Tracing Your Insolvent Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen and Sword Books, 2019
- Finn, Margot. The Character of Credit: Personal Debt in English Culture, 1740–1914, Cambridge University Press, 2007 (Preview available from Google Books)
- Markham Lester, V. Victorian Insolvency: Bankruptcy, Imprisonment for Debt, and Company Winding-up in Nineteenth-Century England: Oxford University Press, 1995 (Preview available at Google Books)
- Marson, Edward. Prison: Five Hundred Years of Life Behind Bars: The National Archives, 2009
- Paley, Ruth & Fowler, Simon. Family Skeletons: Exploring The Lives of our Disreputable Ancestors: The National Archives, 2005
- White, Jerry. Mansions of Misery: A Biography of the Marshalsea Debtors’ Prison: Bodley Head, 2016
Websites
The National Archives Guide
How to look for records of Bankrupts and insolvent debtors. This guide will help you to locate bankruptcy records and records of insolvent debtors held at The National Archives. TNA hold relatively few of these records and you may find it more useful to begin this kind of research at a local archive.
S J Collections
History of Debt.
Taylor & Francis Online
The Forgotten History of Bankruptcy, 1543-1624.
Davis Law Firm
A Brief History on Bankruptcy.
The Nosey Genealogist
Bankrupt Ancestors in Your Family Tree, by Nick Thorne.
Berkshire Family History Society
Ancestors in Debt, by Penny Stokes.
London Ancestor
Descriptions of prisons extracted from Leigh’s New Picture of London, 1819
Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine
How to find bankruptcy records online.
London Lives
Researching Crime. London Lives allows users to link together the records of several different courts to trace individual criminal careers, or at least an individual’s repeated encounters with the law, over a number of years.
London Picture Archive
Search over 250,000 photographs, prints and drawings as well as over 1,000 maps of London from the collections at London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery. Search for people or places or browse subject areas such as ‘Law & Crime’.
Victorian London
Extract from James Grant’s 1838 report into London’s debtors’ prisons.
The Gazette
In debt and incarcerated: the tyranny of debtors’ prisons.
National Records of Scotland Guide
Sequestrations. The Court of Session is Scotland’s supreme civil court and this guide explains a record series known as ‘sequestrations’, held by National Records of Scotland.
Online Databases
Ancestry
Debtors’ Prison Registers. Combined search of two datasets including:
- London, King’s Bench and Fleet Prison Discharge Books and Prisoner Lists, 1734-1862. This collection includes records from London’s Fleet Street and King’s Bench prisons. Fleet prison closed in 1842, and the King’s Bench prison was renamed Queen’s Prison in 1842 and remained open until 1862. The original records are held in series PRIS 10 held at The National Archives.
- London, Marshalsea Prison Commitment and Discharge Books, 1811-1842. This collection includes mainly commitment and discharge records from Marshalsea Prison in London. Marshalsea prison closed in 1842. The original records are held in series PRIS 11 held at The National Archives.
The Genealogist
Search over 146,000 individuals who were listed in prison records from debtors prisons including the King’s Bench Prison, Fleet, Marshalsea and Queen’s Prisons. Sourced from the PRIS 10 and PRIS 11 collections held at The National Archives. These documents contain records from 1697 to 1862 and reveal those jailed for debt or bankruptcy giving details of names of the debtor, creditor and attorney, along with the amount of debt.
Findmypast
Bankrupt Directory 1820-1843. Discover your ancestor whose bankruptcy was recorded in The London Gazette between 1820 and 1843. The records are transcribed from The Bankrupt Directory by George Elwick and may reveal your relative’s address, occupation, and when the bankruptcy appeared in The London Gazette.
The Gazette
The Official Newspaper of Record – London, Edinburgh and Belfast. The Gazette consists largely of statutory notices and includes searchable corporate insolvency and personal bankruptcy notices.
Findmypast
Yorkshire, Sheffield Crime Courts and Convicts 1769-1931. Search over 200,000 records which cover both the perpetrators of crime in and around Sheffield, and those who helped bring them to justice including orders for bankruptcy hearings.
Ancestry
Gloucestershire, England, Prison Records, 1728-1914. Records include Debtors’ registers
York Castle Museum
Search almost 5000 convicted criminals imprisoned at York Castle Prison from the 1700s. The records include transported criminals, executed criminals, victims of crime and imprisoned debtors who pleaded insolvency.
British Newspaper Archive
Perry’s Bankrupt Gazette, 1828-1867. Search the specialist bankruptcy and insolvency journal.
CD Roms
Cornwall Family History Society
Debtors Imprisoned in Bodmin Gaol, 1831-1853 & 1868-1879
Devon Family History Society
Register of Insolvent Debtors, 1835-1847.
