| Administrative history | 'Houses of Correction' were first set up under an Act of 1575 (18 Elizabeth I cap. 3). Their purpose was to provide a place where idle and disorderly persons, rogues, vagabonds etc, could be set to work under the supervision of the Justices of the Peace. As time went on, the buildings came to be used for the imprisonment of minor offenders
In the 19th century, the administration of the House of Correction in Northallerton was controlled by a Committee of Visiting Justices who reported to Quarter Sessions. However, this control was lost in 1878 when administration of the House of Correction passed to the Prison Commissioners following the Prison Act of 1877 (40 & 41 Victoria cap. 21), although there was still a Visiting Committee (which included representatives of the Justices) after this date.
Further information about the Houses of Correction in the North Riding may be found in the North Riding Record Office's Annual Report for 1968 |