Between 1793 and 1815 approximately one-quarter of a million prisonersof war were held in Britain.
At Chatham between 1803 and 1814 there were approximately 90,000
Though officers were treated with greater consideration, the majority of men were held in prisons, mostly in major ports that also contained the chief naval bases and royal dockyards, like Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Chatham.
In addition to land-based prisons, these ports had prison ships or hulks moored in their harbours, since the supply of prisoners always outstripped available accommodation.
More mysteriously, six Frenchmen, held at Chatham and taken on a French prize to HMS Dido in Danish territorial waters, asked to be sent to Denmark when their release was requested by the Danish minister in London in October 1793.
They were put aboard a British warship bound for Denmark, though in the course of the investigation one man was found to be Welsh.
William Price was kept to be tried for serving on an enemy privateer, the punishment for which was death.
Sometimes mistakes occurred and individuals suffered.
Thirteen Hanoverians, allies of Britain, were still being held at Chatham over a year after capture on a whaler.11. Great Britain, Public Record Office (PRO), Admiralty (ADM) 103/56-79/81, Registers of Prisoners of War held at Chatham, 1803-1814; ADM 103/41 -42/409-419, Registers of Prisoners of War held at Bristol/Stapleton, 1793-1814; AD M 103/221-224, Registers of Prisoners of War held at Liverpool, 1793-1801; ADM 103/455-465, Registers of Prisoners of War held at Yarmouth, 1793- 1801 ; ADM 103/315-380, Registers of Prisoners of War held at Portsmouth, 1793-1814; ADM 103/ 268-314, Registers of Prisoners of War held at Plymouth, 1793-1814.
These are cumulative, estimated figures based upon a preliminary survey of the registers.
As yet I cannot provide figures for prisoners held in depots and in hulks, but further research will clarify this point.
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