MARSHALSEA

marshalsea, a prison formerly existing in southwark, london. it was attached to the court of that name held by the steward and marshal of the king's house (see lord steward and marshal). the date of its first establishment is unknown, but it existed as early as the reign of edward iii. it was consolidated in 1842 with the queen's bench and the fleet, and was then described as "a prison for debtors and for persons charged with contempt of her majesty's courts of the marshalsea, the court of the queen's palace of westminster, and the high court of admiralty, and also for admiralty prisoners under sentence of courts martial." it was abolished in 1849. the marshalsea prison is described in charles dickens' _little dorrit_.