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February Special on Crime and Criminals

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  • February Special on Crime and Criminals

    This month, to tie in with the theme in FTF Online Magazine, we hope you will join in with a specialised look at questions about criminals and the law in general.

    Does anyone have any questions or unresolved queries with such ancestors? If you do, then please post your questions on this thread.




    Below are some links to the wiki, which may help.


    Law and Law Enforcement

    You will find links to information about trials and court records, along with links to numerous specific prisons, information about murders and to those that enforce the law, the police.
    You can also find out about some legal definitions here.

    Newspapers and Journals

    This page is where you will find links to:~

    Various newspaper transcripts
    List of Victorian Illustrated Newspapers and Journals in British Library Newspapers Collection
    Digital Archives of The Guardian and Observer Newspapers
    The Times Newspaper Digital Archives
    The Irish Times 1859 to Present
    The Illustrated London News ~ A magazine which was first printed in 1842
    A Comprehensive List of Online Newspaper Archives

    Emigration and immigration

    Shipping and Passenger Lists including Convict Transportation
    Emigration to countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, South Africa and South America.


    Main page for Australia

    Main page for the United States of America

    Records Office Guide
    Last edited by KiteRunner; 06-02-08, 09:17. Reason: Add bit about questions

  • #2
    I hope it's ok to put this here. It isn't a query, it's an offer of help if anyone happens to have a query re the 'Nurse' Dorothea Waddingham' murder trial.

    I have been helping to research this lady (who was hanged) for about two years and I have lots of information on her, her family and the doctor 'George Herbert Hind Manfield' who attended the murder victims. I also have a lot of information about the prison reformer Violet Anne Van der Elst
    Chrissie passed away in January 2020.

    Comment


    • #3
      There is a living Museum (Little Woodham) near me where the volunteers play at living as in a village in 1642.



      One thing I learned while visiting was about raising a Hue and Cry. People pretending to be from a neighbouring village sent word that a Sheep had been stolen and the thief had been seen heading in our direction and that a Hue and Cry had been raised. Soon after that the thief came running into the Village and was captured by the Little Woodhamites while we could hear the neighbouring villagers running towards us and making quite a hullabaloo.

      Theft of property worth a Shilling or more was a Hanging Offence, while if the item(s) were worth less then it was a Prison Sentence, so the Villagers had decided that the value of the Sheep was Eleven Pence.
      Last edited by Grampa Jim; 06-02-08, 14:21.
      Grampa Jim passed away September 2011

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      • #4
        My 2xggfather was sentenced to 18 months hard labour following a trial at the Old Bailey.
        How can I find out which prison he was sent to - and what sort of info would I get from prison records, if I was able to find any?
        Elaine







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        • #5
          The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London 1674 to 1834 which is in the wiki, might tell you of his trial.

          Is his name distinctive enough that you might find him if you name searched some of the individual prison sites?
          Jess

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          • #6
            The gaol admission book will contain details such as these I have about a "cousin", Edward Walford on his admission to Illminster gaol.

            Admission of Prisoners in Q/AGi/ 15/1 (Somerset Record Office)

            Edward Walford 17/1/1823, aged 25 height 5' 5", dark complex, dark hair, hazel eyes, cut on finger of left hand, born Over Stowey, Labourer, married, two children, transported life.


            and a summary when he was transferred ready for transportation

            Edward Walford [A/Agi 14/3]. Number 180, aged 25, 5’ 5", dark complex, dark hair, hazel eyes, born Over Stowey, Labourer. Crime, entering the dwelling house of Joanna Palmer [no person being therein] to steal two half crowns, a purse and a bad [sic] £10 note. And also entering the house of Samuel Chedzoy and steal a guinea and three ounces of silver his property. At Wells Assizes 10 August 1822. Sentence, death, reprieved, transported for his natural life. Delivered on board the York Hulk at Gosport 25 September 1822.
            Last edited by Guinevere; 07-02-08, 07:27.
            Gwynne

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            • #7
              Sorry should have given the date Jess. It was late 1850's.
              He was a high ranking naval officer and it was a case against the Admiralty!
              It was reportedly extensively in the Times but it just ends up saying he was sentenced to 18 months hard labour - but not where.

              Name is quite distinctive - didn´t realise there were individual prison sites that had inmate info.
              Elaine







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              • #8
                I am not sure that there are - many sites for individual prisons are listed in the wiki, and how many of them contain lists of inmates, again, I dont know, BUT it might be worth a look at a few, to get an idea of what life might have been like for him.
                Jess

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                • #9
                  Thanks Jess - will do.
                  Elaine







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                  • #10
                    Elaine, I would try Newgate first

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                    • #11
                      Thanks Merry - will have a google!
                      Elaine







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                      • #12
                        I'm looking for admission/discharge records for Holloway Prison.

                        I have a John Linkson who was sentenced at Thames in 1890 as a lunatic and sent to Holloway.

                        From paperwork at TNA it appears the governor was unsure what to do with him as they had recently passed a law that Lunatics couldn't be held in normal prisons. As there were no prison asylums paperwork went backwards and forwards deciding what should be done with him. It's all very interesting, but........

                        Nowhere does it give his age! I have a few John Linksons at that time and I don't really know which one is the flasher until I know his age.
                        Zoe in London

                        Cio che Dio vuole, io voglio ~ What God wills, I will

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                        • #13
                          My ggrandmother's sister was in a female penitentiary on the 1861 census. There were only 19 inmates and the person in charge was called a Matron. I wondered if perhaps she was 'confined' in more than one sense. I have not been able to find her on later censuses, although she may have married. I haven't been able to find any other references to the Penitentiary which was in St. John's Parish in Chester.
                          Has anyone else come across a similar establishment?

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                          • #14
                            Shirley, they were charitable institutions, read more here -

                            Gwynne

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                            • #15
                              Thanks so much for that. The girl was only fifteen and had been living with her widowed father - so incest may have been a possibility? I will look further.
                              Shirley

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                              • #16
                                Amazing stuff people - well done to all involved.

                                Can someone add the following for Norfolk gaol records and court sessions please?

                                Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service: Norwich Prison Records
                                Last edited by Heather Positive Thinker; 16-02-08, 21:25.

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                                • #17
                                  Wil do Heather - thanks
                                  Jess

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                                  • #18
                                    While googling for Newgate I found this interesting page from TNA. It does say that some of the information may be out of date but there are lots of useful references for prison registers.


                                    Calendars of Prisoners, Prison Registers and Prison Returns in The National Archives - Your Archives

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                                    • #19
                                      My 3Xgreat grandfather whom lived in Kent (William Gambrill) was sent to Australia for stealing 3 watches from a Mr.Dilnot, he was sentenced in October 1838. The following year he was in Australia. He was sentenced to '10 years transportation' - what exaclty that means, i dont know.

                                      Any suggestions where i can find a transscript or something of the court session?
                                      Researching Gambrill

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                                      • #20
                                        "10 years transportation" would mean that he could return to England after 10 years. Other convicts were transported for life, and could never return.

                                        Have you tried the local Records Office to see if they have any records of the trial?

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