Perth Prison

[Lass]

Hey all

Sorry for going missing for a while, got your message Blackcat thank you so much - absolutely no urgency on my part (as you may have noticed!!!) and I'm just extremely grateful to you for offering to look up my naughty ancestor!

I promise to keep in touch as come the New Year I plan to get stuck back in!

Lass x

[Jessie Thomson]

Hi again,

Only found two records for a William Crumley. However, he's a lot younger than your William (born c. 1844) and this one was found not guilty. The reference numbers for his records are AD14/71/16 and JC26/1871/19. Other info included is that he was a tinsmith.

hume24

[Jessie Thomson]

Sorry about the previous quote - I am new to the system and made a codswallop of it.

I have an antecedent William Thomson who was in Perth prison in 1881 according to Ancestry. He was born in 1852 in Coull Aberdeenshire so was aged 29 when in prison. I don't know when he went "inside" or what for, or the length of is sentence. He was however out in 1891 and back at Coull. Why would he be in Perth prison and not Aberdeen? Was it perhaps the seriousness of his crime?

I too have had terrible trouble trying to access the national Archive but it would appear that hume24 and Lass have done quite well so if there is anyone who could help I would really appreciate the assistance.

[Chiad Fhear]

Thanks to the kindness of 'blackcat153', 'GrandmaSheila' and I now have the full story of why Alexander Black and his son - also Alexander - ended up in 'the nick' in 1851

Regards

Chiad Fhear

[blackcat153]

Hi, Jessie,

Don't worry about the codswallop !- I find this system a little bit confusing too - never sure what is a new message and what is the bit I'm trying to reply to!

Anyway, it had nothing to do with the seriousness of the crime - at that period, Perth was the General Prison for Scotland, and, once sentenced, people seemed to get shunted there  from all over the country. I also had a (female) family member there in the 1860s, from Aberdeenshire - have also come across folk from the Borders, etc..

If you go on to this webpage for the Archives -

http://www.nas.gov.uk/onlineCatalogue
Type in William Thomson, and tick the box for 'Phrase', go down the date section and enter a fairly generous likely period, then hit Search.

If you don't tick Phrase, you'll get hundreds of pages with William Smith and Robert Thomson
, etc., featuring !

I've just tried this from 1862 - 1882, and got 15 Persons and 86 Catalogue entries, none of which look correct on a quick look, but you could maybe spend more time on it?
If you get hold of a likely entry, hit on the Reference at the left-hand side, and it should come up with more details. A lot of the entries, by the way, are of Sequestration proceeedings ( bankrupcy) so not likely to be your man, I woldn't think.

If you do come up with a reference, and want to know more, let me know, and I'll check next time I'm in West Register House, where the legal archives are held. [Could be a couple of weeks or so, though, so hope you're not in a hurry.]

Janice

[Jessie Thomson]

Thanks. I've got a bit further but the NAS website is not the greatest for even intuitive thinking. Had a look at the results thrown up by NAS but there did not appear to be anything that could lead me further - but I am inexperienced!
I thought that a crime warranting imprisonment was fairly serious and perhaps unusual for a relatively remote rural area. I know that William Thomson was at home in July 1876 because he has signed his grandfather's death certificate.
In 1881 he was no longer at home according to the Census but in jail in Perth.
He was back at Wardhead, Coull, the family home in 1891 according to the census.
Despite putting in a large date range on the NAS website I don't seem to have had much success.

Clearly I am going wrong somewhere........ any further hints?
Much obliged for the help so far though.

[Lass]

Jessie, you've certainly come to the right place for help, but I do find the NAS website difficult to navigate too!!  It's all thanks to rootschatters, and in this particular case, the wonderful Janice, that I'm progressing forwards with my Crumleys!  So I'm sure she or other members will have some hints and tips for you, stick with it!

Lass x

[Jessie Thomson]

Dear Janice & Lass,

Keep uo with the encouragement for me - I seem to have hit a brick wall with William Thomson.
I'll take up your offer of looking up some details next time in Edinburgh - I'm over a hundred miles north so it's a huge trek to get there to find it either closed or the information not available because I haven't accessed the background correctly.
Further leads in accessing the seemingly labyrinthine website gratefully accepted.
Jessie Thomson

[blackcat153]

Hi, Jessie,

Still thinking of possible options, will get back to you later tonight!
Janice