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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of Marshalsea

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

Example Sentences

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

From New York Times • Aug. 15, 2021

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 • Aug. 6, 2020

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 • Dec. 23, 2017

John Dickens, the father of the novelist, was thrown into the Marshalsea for debt, an experience young Charles never forgot – and used to brilliant effect in Little Dorrit.

From The Guardian • Mar. 18, 2013

To return to the Marshalsea, it may be remarked that Dickens knew it by such early experience that he was qualified to write about it, even more exhaustively than he did in “Little Dorrit.”

From In Jail with Charles Dickens by Trumble, Alfred