Week 47 (Nov. 22-28): Wrong Side of the Law

[Caroline]

Week 47

This week's theme is "Wrong Side of the Law." Scoundrels. Ne'er-do-wells. Criminals. Every family has them. This week, explore someone like that in your family tree.
Amy Johnson Crow

[GallowayLass]

Ooh! I have one. My Gt. Grandfather was seemingly the child from hell. Always in trouble with the authorities. The last escapade reported in the newspapers was him landing in court accused of theft, loutish behaviour etc. It was said that his parents were decent god fearing people who despite their best efforts could do nothing with him. He was found guilty and packed off to an Industrial School which is where I found him on the 1881 census. There had never been a sniff of all this in family stories!
He must have turned a corner though as he got married, held down a steady job and had three children. One died in infancy and the other two were my Gran and her brother who became an elementary school teacher and was mentioned in dispatches in WW1. He continued to teach and study for higher teaching qualifications on return. Sadly, he had been badly gassed in the war which seriously affected his health. He died aged only 26 before he was able to marry his fiancée. Now he definitely was talked about in the family and it is said he was a very well liked and respected man.
OH has a non blood ancestor who was prosecuted twice for bigamy. Both time she was imprisoned in Edinburgh Tolbooth.
Scroundels - there’s way too many of those to mention LOL