A most unusual Sukkot in a London prison in 1727

Fleet Prison in London held prisoners, on and off, between 1197 and 1844. In the 18th century it held debtors and people who declared bankruptcy, and it ran as a for-profit enterprise, charging prisoners to remove their leg-irons as well as for food and rent.

The Caledonian Mercury, October 5, 1727 says that Jewish prisoners in Fleet Prison built their own sukkah to celebrate the Sukkot holiday. 

The Jews of the prison must have paid a great deal to be able to celebrate Sukkot.

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That was probably the last year that Jews could even consider building a sukkah in Fleet Prison. Thomas Bambridge, who purchased the job of warden in 1728, was notorious for treating the prisoners poorly and extorting exorbitant amounts from them.

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