Marshalsea

American  

[mahr-shuhl-see] / ˈmɑr ʃəlˌsi /

noun

British History.

1. the court of the marshal of the royal household.

2. a debtors' prison in London, abolished in 1842.

---

Marshalsea British  

/ ˈmɑːʃəlˌsiː /

noun

1. (formerly in England) a court held before the knight marshal: abolished 1849

2. a prison for debtors and others, situated in Southwark, London: abolished in 1842

---

Etymology

Origin of Marshalsea

1350–1400; Middle English marchalsye, variant of marschalcie. See marshal, -cy

Example Sentences

That takes us back to John Dickens, financially ruined by lack of work, who ended up with his family at Marshalsea debtors’ prison, while his 12-year-old son Charles was forced to work in a rat-infested boot-blacking warehouse, an experience that haunted him for the rest of his life.

From Salon

He briefly ran his own financial consultancy, which he named Marshalsea Associates, after the prison in “Little Dorrit.”

From New York Times

His grandfather was a servant, and his father, John Dickens, was an impecunious minor civil servant ultimately sent to the notorious debtors’ prison, Marshalsea.

From Los Angeles Times

We take our first look at the Marshalsea debtors’ prison, which is to be the core of Little Dorrit.

From The Guardian

Young John Chivery, son of the Marshalsea Turnkeeper, is rewarded for running "mysterious missions" with a banquet, for which Miss Rugg "with her own hands stuffed a leg of mutton with oysters."

From BBC