Fumigating prisoners' clothes at Coldbath Fields Prison

Book illustration showing the process of fumigating prisoners' clothes at Coldbath Fields Prison, from page 293 of 'The criminal prisons of London and scenes of prison life' by Henry Mayhew and John Binny. Prisoners wore prison uniform, and the clothes they wore on entering the prison were labelled and stored for return on their release. However, before storage the clothes were fumigated with sulphur: "In a large oven, with a fire burning beneath it, the suits, wrapped tightly in a roll, are placed on bars, one above another. The oven will contain 150 suits. A pan, filled with brimstone, is lighted and placed in this chamber, and the doors being closed, the temperature is carefully watched, that the heat should not exceed 212º, for fear that the bakings should be literally done to rags, or burnt to a cinder. The garments retain, on coming out, rather a powerful smell of lucifer matches, but, when compared with their previous odour, the change is not disagreeable."