Durham County Record Office: the official archive service for County Durham and Darlington

Prison

Information about Durham, Carlisle and Newcastle prison records in Durham County Record Office.

Registers of prisoners

Male prisoner in Durham Gaol, circa 1900 (P 14/6)

We hold nominal registers of prisoners in:

Durham Prison, from 1908 to 1964 (some gaps)
Carlisle Prison, from 1910 to 1922 (some gaps)
Newcastle Prison, 1909 to 1925 (some gaps)
Durham Borstal (girls) from 1958 to 1962.

There are also some photographs of prisoners.

Registers of prison officers

We hold registers of officers at Durham Prison, from 1897 to 1977 (approximate dates only), and at Newcastle Prison, from 1872 to 1924 (approximate dates only).

Access to records

Access to records relating to prisoners and prison officers is restricted for 85 years under Data Protection legislation. When only part of a volume is covered by Data Protection, access to the entire volume is restricted. Please contact us to apply for access.

Durham Prison records - online catalogue

For other prison records, search the catalogue for house of correction or similar keywords.