Spinning House Committals Books : [Rules and regulations for the Cambridge Spinning-House]

Cambridge Spinning-House

Spinning House Committals Books

<p style='text-align: justify;'>The Cambridge Spinning-House on St Andrews’ Street was founded by Thomas Hobson in the seventeenth century as a general house of correction. In the early years the warden was often a wool-comber or weaver, and the inmates would work under him, giving the building its name. By the nineteenth century it was in use solely by the University as a prison for streetwalkers found consorting with the undergraduates. The institution generated increasing controversy over the course of the nineteenth century, and was ultimately abolished in 1894. A booklet of rules and regulations accompanies the two broadsides, and it is included here for completeness. <br />Janet Oswald “The Spinning House girls: Cambridge University's distinctive policing of prostitution, 1823–1894” Urban History, vol. 39 issue 3 (2012) </p>