prison records

[kylejustin]

i found an ancestor today who was in prison in the 1901 census.

her majesty's prison, all saints, northumberland

ref- rg 13, piece 4787, folio 127, page 8

joseph westwick- 41, b. 1860, richmond. prisoner.

is there a site where i can records? find out why he was there? how long his sentance was?

[tessie31082]

i don't know if there would be anywhere on line you could look, but i guess your first line of enquiry would be to contact northumberland libraries to see if they would kindly look on your behalf at the records they may hold of newspapers back then. Or tap into your search engine northumberland and see if the coucil etc have a site you can look at and go from there.

[kylejustin]

i've sent an email to northumberland

[kylejustin]

update

havn't had any luck. everyone keeps sending me to each other.
he seems to be in the same area in 1911 too.

[JulesSmith]

have you got any details for him before 1901? Just trying to narrow down when he might have been sent to prison.

Is that him on 1891 census Class: RG12; Piece: 4036; Folio 17; Page 26

[kylejustin]

yes jules, that's him. yorkshire, durham and northumberland all claim each other has the records for him.

[JulesSmith]

yes jules, that's him. yorkshire, durham and northumberland all claim each other has the records for him.

LOL well that figures.

I've done a google search and nothing pops up for him, he also isn't on Blacksheep, or the Durham Assizes I've got, but I'll keep looking. You never know...

I found my record fairly easily but I knew roughly when and where. I found loads of stuff in the newspapers at the library, but again I had a date range. I'll have a think.

At least you've narrowed it down to 10 years !

[kylejustin]

i can't seem to find the emails i sent to them.

[JulesSmith]

The record office nearest to the prison should hold the prisoner records.
However, I've just rung Durham Record Office and their records start from 1911. I then rang Tyne & Wear and their records are 1700 to mid 1800s. So not much help there. They said it's possible there are no records for the period you need, although I reckon National Archives might have them if they exist.

T&W said to check their catalogue just in case Tyne & Wear Archives Service ref is PRO.NC

[kylejustin]

thanx jules. the ref number didn't pull any matches on the site. you may be right about the national archives.

i can't see anything online though. is it possible the actual records are at kew? and they're not online?

[JulesSmith]

thanx jules. the ref number didn't pull any matches on the site. you may be right about the national archives.

i can't see anything online though. is it possible the actual records are at kew? and they're not online?

It's possible but the people at the records offices didn't seem completely convinced that there are any. I'll see if I can call them for you.

[kylejustin]

they might be right about the records, i can't find much by googling.

[JulesSmith]

TNA say they have records, however it could be a long slog. They suggest reading Tracing 19th and 20th Century Criminals on their website to begin with. None of the actual records are searchable online though.

Good luck and if you need me to call them again I'm happy to do so.

[kylejustin]

thank you so much jules. i will definently post again, especially for the outcome of this goose chase.

under which tab would that research guide be under?