Daily Life - Kings Bench Prison - London. Pubished 1st December 1808 at R. Ackerman's Repository of Arts, 101 Strand, London. The King's Bench Prison was a prison situated in the Southwark area of London from medieval times, until its final closure in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law , where cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were heard. The prison was often used as a debtor's prison until the practice was abolished in the 1860s. In 1842, it was renamed the Queen's Prison, and later became the Southwark Convict Prison. 固opFoto *** Local Caption ***