in fruitless efforts to get the debtors out, and creditors claimed even
more simply because the debtor was in jail. The bills piled up with
little hope of ever being paid.

The King’s Bench Prison offered prisoners the option to live out-
side the walls if they could afford to pay for that privilege. This was
referred to as “The Rules of the King’s Bench Prison” and extended
to an area of about three miles around the jail. John Marfleet pointed
out that the wording of the documents concerning Isaac indicated
that he was taking advantage of this loophole, as they “summoned”
him to appear suggesting that he enjoyed a certain amount of free-
dom almost from day one. If he had been incarcerated they would
not have needed to summon him.

If Isaac arranged to live outside the prison, then no doubt Lydia
would join him. The rest of the family apparently moved there too.
The next record we have of Vere shows him living in Newington, a
community next to the King’s Bench Prison. John Marfleet found a
marriage certificate for Vere and Elizabeth Sarah Marfleet. They were
married in Newington in 1808 and the marriage record indicates they
were both members of that parish, showing that they had lived there
for some time. In addition to providing information on the date and
place, it also showed that Elizabeth was literate too, as she signed her
name on the certificate. Vere had obviously found work of some kind
in Newington and Elizabeth must have too since they were both liv-
ing there. Vere’s youngest brother, Charles, appears to have followed
too and it’s quite likely that John did as well.

John Marfleet found information showing that Charles Ward
Beck was born in Scotland and married Hannah Morris on the 26th
of December, 1814, at St. Mary’s Church in Newington. Both were
members of the Parish. They eventually moved back to Mitcham and
were living there during the census of 1841, and Charles died in Mit-
cham on May 28, 1851.

Returning to Isaac’s problems, Lucy’s estate could not be settled
because of Isaac’s outstanding debts. The estate was one of the credit-
ors so Lydia would have to line up with the other creditors trying to
reach a settlement with him. The estate was owed £200, which would

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