Old Prison

“For cantonal court matters, one did not have to walk far. After all, the cantonal judge sat in our good village, and the cantonal court was held in the town hall. The prison in Aalten was also equipped for the detention of prisoners for longer than twenty-four hours. A gaoler was appointed for this purpose, and for many years Wessel te Brake held this post. To ensure the proper fulfillment of the feeding and care of the prisoners, he had to sign a contract and provide several sureties. As a matter of interest, we publish the transcript of this contract here:

Between the Board of Supervision of the house of detention in Aalten on the one hand, and Wessel te Brake, gaoler of the prisoners residing in Aalten, on the other, the following contract has been entered into today regarding the maintenance of the prisoners during the year 1862, at the price of fifty cents per prisoner per day.

Article One.

The Contractor undertakes to provide feeding and nursing for the prisoners in the aforementioned house, providing each of them daily with:

• A. Four ounces of rye bread made of pure baked flour.
• B. Three measures of warm drink consisting of one part fresh milk and four parts boiled water.
• C. At midday, a nutritious midday meal at least in accordance with the dietary standards established for prisoners in general.
• D. In the evening, two and a half ounces of well-baked rye bread as above and two and a half measures of warm drink, consisting of four parts boiled water and one part fresh milk with five wigtjes [units of weight] of coffee and the necessary chicory.
• E. Further necessary drinking water.

Article Two.

The various food items must be of good quality and prepared as required, and shall always be subject to the approval of the Board of Supervision, by whose judgment the Contractor shall abide.

Article Three.

The Contractor shall also be required, in occurring cases, to provide sick prisoners with such food and drink as the medical practitioner shall prescribe, with the exception of medicines.

Article Four.

The Contractor shall be paid within two months after the submission of his three-monthly or annual declaration.

Article Five.

In the prescribed declaration and statements, he may charge for the day of arrival of the prisoners, but not for the day of departure. However, if the prisoners have already enjoyed the midday meal upon their arrival and stay only until the following day, so that only supper and breakfast are provided, or if they should depart again on the day of their arrival, so that only the midday meal is provided, only half a nursing day may be declared in such cases. For the maintenance of children temporarily confined with their parents, half the contract price may be charged for each full nursing day. Mention of this must be made in the Remarks column and the nominative statement.

Article Six.

The Contractor must always submit separate declarations and nominative statements for the maintenance costs of police prisoners, which are borne by the municipalities to which they belong. Should it be necessary in special cases to light or heat the prison, the Contractor must provide for this in such a manner as the Board of Supervision shall prescribe.

Article Seven.

The costs of stamps and registration of the contract, as well as the stamp duties of the mandates when these exceed ten guilders, shall be borne by the Contractor.

Article Eight.

Should any dispute arise concerning the correct understanding and execution of the foregoing provision, the same shall be judged and decided by the King’s Commissioner in the province, without appeal to any other authority.

After reading the above terms, the Contractor, Wessel te Brake, declares to have understood them all well, to follow them, and for the proper fulfillment of his commitment to provide as sureties Jan Wegchelaar, messenger, and Jan te Hoonte, constable, both residing in Aalten, who are also present here and declare that they are well aware of the obligations to be fulfilled by the Contractor, hold themselves jointly and severally liable with him for the execution thereof, and renounce all exceptions that might be raised by them as sureties. And the Contractor and his sureties have also signed this.

Done at Aalten, 10th Dec. 1861. 1861. The Board of Supervision of the house of detention in Aalten,
(signed) F.W.J. IMMINK (President)
(signed) L. ROELVINK, Secretary.

The Contractor and the sureties:
(signed) W. TE BRAKE
(signed) J. WEGCHELAAR
(signed) J. TE HOONTE.

The document was registered in Groenlo. The costs for this were 20 cents plus 38 surtax, making 28 cents in total.”