Skin-crawling inmates at Britain’s first female-only jail - racy madam to child killer

dailystar.co.uk:

It has been six years since Britain’s first female-only prison stopped housing inmates.Holloway Prison opened in 1852 but later became an all-female institution at the start of the 20th century.And the eerie jail gained notoriety after hosting five female executions - including the last woman to be hanged in Britain in 1955.Many suffragettes - including Emmeline Pankhurst - were also hauled to Holloway after defying the law in pursuit of their right to vote.Some went on hunger strike and were even force-fed - making the prison symbolic for women’s struggle for liberation.And it was Europe's largest female prison and could house 500 inmates before closing in 2016.

It was sold to Peabody for £81 million and the housing association recently submitted plans to build almost 1,000 homes on the historic site in North London.Here, we take a look at what happened to some of the high-profile residents who stayed at the 164-year-old nick...Cynthia Payne became known as Britain’s most famous madam before her wild life was immortalised in the film Personal Services starring Julie Walters.But the eccentric brothel keeper was chucked in Holloway Prison after being caught running a brothel.Cynthia was punished for organising sex parties at her home in Streatham, London and was sentenced to 18 months at Holloway in 1980.Her sentence was later slashed to six months.Details about her racy life were revealed in court - including men giving her luncheon vouchers in exchange for sex with her workers.And in her autobiography, Cynthia later described how “vicars, MPs and lawyers” considered her as “the best hostess” in the city.She died in 2015 aged 82 at King’s College Hospital and the carriage that took her to her final resting place was.