The London prison featured in Charles Dickens's Little Dorrit is the Marshalsea. The Marshalsea was a real prison in Southwark, south of the River Thames, best known for holding debtors and their families. Dickens drew on personal experience: his father, John Dickens, was imprisoned there for debt.
In the novel, William Dorrit has spent more than twenty years in the Marshalsea and is known as the “Father of the Marshalsea.” His daughter Amy, the Little Dorrit of the title, was born there and supports her family through sewing. Dickens uses the prison to expose the cruelty and absurdity of a system that incarcerated people for unpaid debts while making it difficult for them to earn money.
The Marshalsea existed in two Southwark locations. The earlier prison operated from 1373 to 1811, while the second stood from 1811 until its closure in 1842. It should not be confused with the King's Bench Prison, Fleet Prison or Newgate, all of which were separate London prisons. Dickens's novel was originally published in serial parts from 1855 to 1857.