RootsChat.Com
Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Ayrshire => Topic started by: Del 80 on Tuesday 14 November 23 18:27 GMT (UK)
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My Mrs. reckons that her father, Joseph Hugh Clarke (1918-1975) went to jail, in the early fifties for sheep rustling.......as far as she can remember they lived at an outlaying farm near to Crosshouse at the time, trying to find any information about this........
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If he went to jail there will be records of the court case. You would need to find out which court - probably Ayr Sheriff Court? - and where those court records are held. Start with the catalogues at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/catalogues-and-indexes
You might be able to short-cut the search by finding a newspaper report. Rustling was probably sufficiently unusual in the 1950s to attract the attention of the Press. The British Newspaper Archive is the obvious place to start. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/
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I note on FindMyPast the is an article in the Kilmarnock Standard dated 5 August 1949 relating to a breach of the peace by a Hugh Joseph Clarke of 68 Kirkhill Drive, he appeared at Ardrossan Burgh Court. Not sure if this is the man?
You would need to pay to view. No mention of Rustling in the area as far as I can see, you can search FindMyPast for free once signed up.
If you google the address there are photographs of Kirkhall Drive, Ardrossan in 1980
The houses in Kirkhall Drive are shown prior to demolition to make way for a housing etc.
Colin
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Thanks for the replies.....Colin, Hugh Joseph Clarke was Joseph Hugh Clarke's father.....I took advantage of Find My Past being free to view during remembrance weekend, and saw the article you refer to, but as you say nothing about Clarke the younger and sheep stealing.....
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The 1949 case was about bad blood between two families. The Pitch and Toss case was reported in the same newspaper 14 Nov 1947.
Does Francis Clarke link to Hugh Joseph Clarke?
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Note- just alerted to latest post but will send in case you hadn't spotted the Pitch and Toss case.
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That's very interesting, thank you.....I hadn't seen the Pitch and Toss one, and have no knowledge of a Francis Clarke, but him having the same address as Hugh Joseph Clarke leads me to believe that he could well be a relation.....further enquires I think.......
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Snippet from an article in the same paper 26 Sep 1952
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The same paper, 22 Aug 1941, reported 47 people appearing in Court charged with breaking the blackout regulations. The standard fine was £2 and included an "H J Clarke, 68 Kirkhill Drive".
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Thanks for that.....I've seen the one about Agnes Conaghan before, but not the blackout one.......
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Weel kent names from the Ardrossan of my youth. I played football with 2 of the Clarkes, cousins, both called Tommy. The older one was known as 'Dumper' and was a formidable goalkeeper who had trialled as a boy with Celtic, and you avoided being confronted by him in front of goal, he was quite fierce. The younger Tommy was a gifted footballer but the last I heard of him was in the 1970s after being in an altercation in which a man died. The Maple Leaf Hotel, Canal Street, Saltcoats, on a 'Grab-a-granny night' often resulted in disputes.
At least the sheep rustling was not in the Aberdeen Style. (Whit!? Nae kissing!)
cheers, Ian
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There were so many Clarke's in Ardrossan it's hard to keep track of them.....I think there were two or three different families, either very distantly related, or not related at all......it seems that 68 Kirkhall Drive was a tenement block, so I'm guessing lot's of families lived there.....I can't find any evidence of Francis Clarke being a relative of my Mrs. Grandfather, Hugh Joseph, but it's still possible......
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Kirkhall drive and Busbie Drive and Castle Road all had low rise tenements. 2 level and 3 level. Kirkhall Drive had many of the families displaced from Kilmahew Street's Victorian demolished tenements.
Youths born in the 1940s and 1950s in Ardrossan, Saltcoats & Stevenston couldn't get proper housing whenever they married so left to get brand new flats and houses in Pennyburn, Kilwinning, then part of Irvine's NEW TOWN.
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Re reply #1. The court would have been Kilmarnock Sheriff Court and not Ayr.
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Re reply #1. The court would have been Kilmarnock Sheriff Court and not Ayr.
Thank you....I can't find any information on it at all....maybe one day.....
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Thank you....I can't find any information on it at all....maybe one day.....
Unfortunately you are unlikely to (at least through the Court Records). Scottish Sheriff Court records have a 100 year closure on them and even then not all are preserved as they go through a weeding process.