A query re-directed from the Common Room ...
The TNA Research Guide “Tracing 19th and 20th Century Criminals” states that “Defendants tried by magistrates or by petty sessions (without a jury) could sentence prisoners to a short period of time in a local prison”. Good ... from newspaper reports, I know that my grandfather was convicted on Friday, Sept. 16th, 1921 and sentenced to 6 weeks incarceration. The trial was at the “Borough Police Court”, Scarborough. Although the newspaper article does not specify the type of session, the sentence was handed down by “The Chairman”, and some questions were posed by “The Magistrate’s Clerk” - therefore, I conclude that this was a magistrate’s court, or equivalent (even though the prosecution was represented by a Public Prosecutor from London), so my grandfather would have been packed off to the local prison. By 1921, Scarborough no longer had its own prison, so this would probably have been at York.
The Research Guide goes on to say that “You can search the whereabouts of prison registers on the National Register of Archives”... however, when I follow the instructions by entering "York Prison", I get no returns. I am particularly interested in locating the relevant prison register because the Research Guide says that these “... can provide additional information such as a physical description, photograph and birthplace”.
Any ideas on how I can locate the York Prison registers for 1921?
Thanks
Tim
