Editing Norman Cross Prison (section)

==Operation==
[[File:Norman Cross model.jpg|thumb|Model of Norman Cross by M. Foulley in the [[Musée de l'Armée]], Paris; photographed in 1913]]
The average prison population was about 5,500 men. The lowest number of prisoners recorded in any official document was 3,300 in October 1804 and the highest was 6,272 on 10 April 1810.<ref name="Walker"/>

Norman Cross was intended to be a model depot providing the most humane treatment of prisoners of war. Sir [[Rupert George]] was responsible for the "care and custody" of the French prisoners.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101076879830&view=1up&seq=359 p. 865]</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hnf23u&view=1up&seq=370|title=A collection of state papers, relative to the war against France now carrying on by Great-Britain and the several other European powers|publisher=printed for J. Debrett}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t85h7f53f&view=1up&seq=61|title = The Naval chronicle :containing a general and biographical history of the royal navy of the United kingdom with a variety of original papers on nautical subjects /|publisher = J. Gold}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/politicalindext02beat/page/110/mode/1up/search/%22Rupert+George%22?q=%22Rupert+George%22|title = A political index to the histories of Great Britain & Ireland; or, A complete register of the hereditary honours, public offices, and persons in office, from the earliest periods to the present time|year = 1806}}</ref><ref>Walker, Thomas James. [https://archive.org/details/depotforprisoner00walkuoft/page/142/mode/1up/search/%22Rupert+George%22?q=%22Rupert+George%22 ''The depot for prisoners of war at Norman Cross, Huntingdonshire 1796 to 1816'', p. 142.]</ref>

Most of the men held in the prison were low-ranking soldiers and sailors, including midshipmen and junior officers, with a small number of [[privateers]]. About 100 senior officers and some civilians "of good social standing", mainly passengers on captured ships and the wives of some officers, were given ''[[Parole#Prisoners of war|parole d'honneur]]'' outside the prison, mainly in Peterborough, although some as far away as [[Northampton]], [[Plymouth]], [[Melrose, Scotland|Melrose]], and [[Abergavenny]].<ref name="Walker"/> They were afforded the courtesy of their rank within English society. Some "with good private means" hired servants and often dined out while wearing full uniform.<ref name="Walker"/> Three French officers died of natural causes while on parole and were buried with full military honours.<ref name="Walker"/> Four French officers and five Dutch officers married English women while on parole.<ref name="Walker"/> The most senior officer on parole from the prison was [[Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes|General Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes]] who resided with his wife in [[Cheltenham]] from 1809 until they escaped back to France in 1811. General {{ill|René-Martin Pillet|fr}} (1762–1816), Adjutant Commandant was confined here for breaking parole; he was allowed further parole and after again attempting to escape was sent to [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]].<ref>{{cite news|title= Pillet, the Atrocious Calumniator |newspaper= Morning Post|date= 11 December 1815|page= 3}}</ref>

Among the prisoners in 1797 were Germans who had been conscripted into the French army. These were encouraged to enlist in the [[King's Royal Rifle Corps|60th Foot]], which was raising a rifle-armed 5th Battalion in imitation of German ''[[Jäger (infantry)|jägers]]''.<ref name = Turton/>

===Clothing===
The French prisoners, whose main pastime was gambling, were accused by the British government of selling their clothes and few personal possessions to raise money for further gambling. In 1801, the British government issued statements blaming the French Consul for not supplying sufficient clothing (the British government had paid the French for all English prisoners held in France and French colonies to be clothed). In July 1801 Jeremiah Askew, a tradesman at Yaxley, was convicted of being in possession of [[palliasse]]s and other articles bearing the government mark of the '[[broad arrow]]'. He was sentenced to stand in the [[pillory]] at Norman Cross and two years of [[hard labour]].<ref>{{cite news|title= On Monday|newspaper= London Courier and Evening Gazette|date= 24 July 1801|page= 3}}</ref>

Samuel Johnson and a Mr Serle, who visited the barracks, compiled a report on behalf of the British government, stating that the proportion of food allowance was fully sufficient to maintain both life and health, but added: "provided it is not shamefully lost by gambling". The [[British Admiralty|Lords of the Admiralty]], along with Johnson, instructed that naked prisoners should be clothed at once, without waiting for the French supply or payment for clothing.

The British government provided each naked prisoner with a yellow suit, a grey or yellow cap, a yellow jacket, a red waistcoat, yellow trousers, a neckerchief, two shirts, two pairs of stockings, and one pair of shoes. The bright colours were chosen to aid the recognition of escaped prisoners. In Foulley's model of the prison (at the [[Musée de l'Armée]], Paris; pictured above) more than half the prisoners are represented wearing these clothes.

===Food===
Food was prepared by cooks drawn from the prison ranks. The cooks, one for every 12 prisoners, were paid a small allowance by the British government. The initial daily food ration for each prisoner was 1&nbsp;[[Pound (mass)#In Britain|lb]] of beef, 1&nbsp;lb of bread, 1&nbsp;lb of potatoes, and 1&nbsp;lb of cabbage or [[pea]]se. As the majority of prisoners were [[Roman Catholic]], herrings or cod was substituted for beef on Fridays. Each prisoner was also allowed 2&nbsp;[[Ounce|oz]] of soap per week. In November 1797, the British and French governments agreed that each should feed their own citizens in their enemy's prisons. The French provided a daily ration of one pint of beer, 8&nbsp;oz of beef or fish, 26&nbsp;oz of bread, 2&nbsp;oz of cheese and 1&nbsp;lb of potato or fresh vegetables. They were also allowed 1&nbsp;lb of soap and 1&nbsp;lb of tobacco per month. Patients in the prison hospital were given a daily ration of one pint of tea morning and evening, 16&nbsp;oz of bread, 16&nbsp;oz of beef, mutton or fish, one pint of broth, 16&nbsp;oz of green vegetables or potato, and two pints of beer.

The British government went to great lengths to provide food of a quality at least equal to that available to locals. The senior officer from each quadrangle was permitted to inspect the food as it was delivered to the prison to ensure it was of sufficient quality.<ref name="Walker"/>

Despite the generous supply and quality of food, some prisoners died of starvation after gambling away their rations.<ref name="Walker"/>

===Education===
Most prisoners were illiterate and were offered the opportunity to learn to read and write in their native language and English. Prisoners who could read were given access to books. News on the progress of the war, including successes and defeats on both sides, was reported to prisoners.

In April 1799, French prisoners at Liverpool were reported to have performed plays by [[Voltaire]] in a neat prison theatre they had constructed.<ref>{{cite news|title= The French prisoners|newspaper= Cumberland Pacquet, and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser |date= 9 April 1799|page= 3}}</ref> In July 1799, Dutch prisoners at Norman Cross sought permission to use one building as a theatre. The [[List of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty|Sea Lords]] refused. However, Foulley's model, depicting the prison as it was in about 1809, shows a theatre in the south-west quadrangle.

===Religion===
There was no prison chapel but a Catholic priest resided in the garrison barracks. From 1808, the former [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Moulins|Bishop of Moulins]] [[Étienne-Jean-Baptiste-Louis des Gallois de La Tour]], who lived in exile at [[Stilton]], was permitted by the Admiralty to minister and provide charity to the prisoners at his own expense.<ref name="Walker"/> He later became [[Archbishop of Bourges]].

===Health===
Sick prisoners were initially treated in the prison hospital by two French Navy surgeons and 24 orderlies.<ref name="Walker"/>

As the number of prisoners increased, disease spread throughout the camp and 1,020 prisoners died in a [[typhus]] outbreak in 1800–1801.<ref name="Walker"/> A special 'typhus cemetery' was dug near the camp.<ref name="Wessex">[https://www.scribd.com/doc/56147568/Time-Team-Norman-Cross "Norman Cross Camp Cambridgeshire. Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results".] ''Wessex Archaeology'', September 2010.</ref>

Leonard Gillespie, Surgeon to the Fleet, wrote in 1804 that [[pneumonia]] was common with some cases becoming fatal [[carditis]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gillespie|first=Leonard|title=Short Statement of the Result of the Practice in the Hospital for Prisoners of War at Norman Cross|journal=The London Medical and Physical Journal|volume=12|pages=345–347|year=1804|issue=68 |pmid=30491617 |pmc=5674343 }}</ref> There were also many cases of [[tuberculosis|consumption]]. A brick house for a resident British surgeon was built adjacent to the prison hospital in 1805.<ref name="Wessex"/>

A peculiar outbreak of [[nyctalopia]] or night-blindness affected many of the prisoners in 1806. They became severely [[Dyspepsia|dyspeptic]] and completely blind from sunset until dawn, to the extent that their fitter companions had to lead them around the camp. Various treatments were tried and failed; finally they were cured with [[Helleborus niger|black hellebore]], given as snuff, which relieved the dyspepsia and restored their night vision within a few days.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KfcTAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA379 Waller, John Augustine, ''British Domestic Herbal'', 1822.] Quoted in Barton, Benjamin Herbert & [[Thomas Castle|Castle, Thomas]], ''The British Flora Medica; or, History of the Medicinal Plants of Great Britain'', London, 1837; Google Books.</ref>

A total of 1,770 prisoner deaths were recorded, the majority from disease, during the time the prison was in operation, although the records are incomplete.<ref name="Walker"/><ref>{{cite web|title= Norman Cross Camp, Cambridgeshire|url=https://www.scribd.com/document_downloads/direct/56147568?extension=pdf&ft=1612713839&lt=1612717449&show_pdf=true&user_id=540077777&uahk=UkW4_-cauut4WF427SJhrDlVOMg|website= www.scribd.com|access-date= 6 February 2012}}</ref>