Bank, the, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Bank, the n.

[built according to Jeremy Bentham’s ideas on prison reform, outlined in his pamphlet The Panopticon or Inspection House, the prison opened in 1821. A gloomy, labyrinthine place, with a reputation for disease and poor conditions, it was shut in 1891]

(UK Und.) Millbank Penitentiary.

1845		J. Lindridge Sixteen-String Jack 108: The plant’s as safe as the Bank, the Bank! I meant Newgate, for once in the stone jug, it’s mighty good care they take not to part with you there.
1869		‘Six Years in the Prisons of England’ in Temple Bar Mag. Feb. 383: ‘Have you done your separates in the ’bank?’ ‘No; in the country.’.
1877		Five Years’ Penal Servitude 221: You came down with the last batch from the Bank, didn’t yer?
1885		M. Davitt Leaves from a Prison Diary I 134: ‘Jack H—,’ he continued, ‘who was lately in the Bank’ (Millbank), ‘had a hand in that job.’.