Borstal, borstal
(ˈbɔəstəl)
[Name of a village near Rochester in Kent.]
In full Borstal institution: a reformatory for ‘juvenile adults’, conducted according to the method first put into practice at the reformatory at Borstal and adopted afterwards elsewhere. Also attrib. So Borstal system: a system established in 1908 whereby young persons convicted of criminal offences between the ages of 16 and 23 may be sent to a Borstal institution for a period of reformative training, usu. 3 years, after which they are released subject to further supervision by the Borstal Association. Hence Borˈstalian, an inmate of a Borstal.
[1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 8/1 In 1901..a ‘juvenile-adult reformatory’ was opened at Borstal, near Rochester, by the conversion of a part of the existing convict prison.] 1907 Daily Chron. 6 June 5/4 The ‘Borstal prisoner’. 1907 Borstal System 2 Every lad who is imprisoned in Dartmoor or Borstal passes into the care of the Borstal Association on his discharge. 1917 Times 7 Feb. 5/6 Four youths have escaped from the Borstal Institution, Rochester. 1921 Glasgow Herald 15 Nov. 6 The Borstal boys have five meals a day at Portland. 1923 (title) The Borstalian. 1951 Lancet 3 Mar. 519/1 The only open borstal for girls is at East Sutton. Ibid. 519/2 A survey of 300 borstal girls. 1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 924/1 There are now in England four Borstal institutions—at Chatham, Feltham and Portland for youths, and that for girls at Aylesbury. 1958 Observer 19 Oct. 21/6 There are sharp sketches of fellow Borstalians. |
Also transf. as adj.
1936 ‘J. Tey’ Shilling for Candles x. 112 Grant thought how Borstal she was in spite of her soignée exterior. That air of resentment against the world in general and her own fate in particular was very familiar to him. |