Borstal

Origin of: Borstal

Borstal

The juvenile correctional institutions in the UK were named after the village of Borstal, near Rochester in Kent, where the first institution was opened in 1902. Borstals were abolished in 1982 in favour of “youth custody centres”. The most famous Borstal Old Boy was the Irish writer Brendan Behan whose autobiography Borstal Boy was published in 1958.