History & Haunting of: Cathedral House Hotel, & Duke Street Prison ,Glasgow,Scotland Duke Street Prison also known as Bridewell is one of 8 prisons which used to stand in and around Glasgow. By 1840 most of these were closed except Duke Street Prison . Between its first prisoners arriving in 1798 and 1872, various improvements were made to the structure but not to the terrible living conditions which were mentioned in the Glasgow street song sung to the tune of There Is a Happy Land. There is a happy land, doon Duke Street Jail, Where a the prisoners stand, tied tae a nail. Ham an eggs they never see, dirty watter fur yer tea; there they live in misery God Save the Queen! After the transfer of responsibility to the state from local authorities, HM Prison Barlinnie was built in the Eastern suburbs of the city in 1882 in order to take over from Bridewell which eventually remained open as a womens prison until 1955. Cathedral House Hotel It is located in a historic part of Glasgow and is five minutes from Merchant City. The hotel is opposite Glasgow Cathedral and overlooks the Necropolis. Cathedral House Hotel was built in 1877 as a hostel for inmates released from nearby Duke Street Prison. Activity includes a ghost which passes guests on the stairwell and two children being sighted and giggling children heard on the top floor. As Duke Street prison held women prisoners from around Scotland, many Suffragettes and political activists were imprisoned here whose protests at the living conditions would eventually lead to the closure in 1955. It was demolished in 1958 to eventually make way for the Ladywell housing scheme which was built on the site from 1961–1964 and stands till this day. The only remaining structure of Duke Street Prison is some of the boundary wall As Duke Street prison held women prisoners from around Scotland, many Suffragettes and political activists were imprisoned here whose protests at the living conditions would eventually lead to the closure in 1955. It was demolished in 1958 to eventually make way for the Ladywell housing scheme which was built on the site from 1961–1964 and stands till this day. The only remaining structure of Duke Street Prison is some of the boundary wall Susan Newell was hanged at Duke Street prison Glasgow on the 10th of October 1923. 30 year old Newell had strangled newspaper boy, John Johnston, who would not give her an evening paper without the money. She was the first woman to hang in Scotland for over fifty years and on the gallows refused the traditional white hood. The legend has it that one of the condemned prisoners was gazing out from the condemned cell from which he could see only a tree. On the tree, wee sparras flirted about and chirped away. He confided to his wardens (or confessor?) that he so regreted what he had done with his life and how that had led him to this place that he would be willing to trade it all to try again - in even it it was just to be wane ae they wee sparras . Quite touching, but there again there were the cynics who said it was a case of impending execution concentrating the mind wonderfully! By >clemhayes I have had a few strange things happen to me when in that area and I am not the only one, I mean spooky stuff. A few weeks ago I was coming back from the town with a mate and we started talking to one of the security guards at the Great Eastern and he was as white as a ghost because he had just had one in front of him.He said it was a wee woman that vanished into thin air in front of him, then I told him what had happened to me on more than one occasion, then he did not feel so bad. Apparently they used to have the initials of people hanged there chiselled on the wall.The bodies of executed persons could not be buried on consecrated ground (that is Christian consecrated). Hence their burial within the prison confines. Duke Street Prison Cell Door- Glasgow video here > https://youtube/watch?v=V3X1K2cgfCE A total of 12 judicial executions by hanging were carried out at the prison between 1902 and 1928. All those executed had been convicted of the crime of murder. The list of executed criminals includes the last woman to be executed in Scotland and at the time the first in over 50 years who was hanged after being convicted of strangling a paper boy. The others were:- 12/11/1902 Patrick Leggett Sarah murdered Jane Leggett 26/07/1904 Thomas Gunning murdered Agnes Allen 14/11/1905 Pasha Liffey murdered Mary Jane Welsh 16/05/1917 Thomas McGuiness murdered Alexander Imlach 11/11/1919 James Adams murdered Mary Doyle (Kane) 26/05/1920 Albert James murdered Fraser Henry Senior 26/05/1920 James Rollins murdered Henry Senior 21/02/1922 William Harkness murdered Elizabeth Benjamin 10/10/1923 Susan Newell murdered John Johnstone 24/09/1925 John Keen murdered Noorh Mohammed 24/01/1928 James McKay murdered Agnes Arbuckle 03/08/1928 George Reynolds murdered Thomas Lee Photo 1 by Tony Webster Photo 2 by pinterest Photo 3 by theglasgowstory/image.php?Women prisoners being discharged from Duke Street Prison in 1909 Photo 4 Cathedral House hotel by i1253.photobucket/albums/hh595/Hawick_1987/045-1_zpsc17a6c21.jpg Photo 5 by HollowHornThis photograph is titled Bullet holes in the remaining Duke Street prison wall - Drygate 1997 unbelievably this as been demolished! en.wikipedia.org news.stv.tv/
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 15:10:17 +0000
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