Click here to read the transcription of Lancaster Castle Governor John Higgin Junior and his son, Deputy Governor Thomas Housman Higgin, 1815-1818. The diary is a fascinating insight into the daily running of the county gaol. From frequent felon escape attempts and uprisings, to drunken, squabbling debtors and how mental illness, disease prevention and annoying magistrates were all handled by the father and son wardens, who were frequently in fear for their own lives.

Lancaster Castle Governor’s Journal 1815-1818. National Archives PCOM2/442. 

John Higgin Jr and Thomas Housman Higgin, Governor and Deputy Governors at Lancaster Castle.
Transcribed by Naomi Parsons under the OGL permitted use of a Crown Copyright Public Record.