criminal records

[jansen]

i am tracing an ancestor listed in the 1881 census as a prisoner in preston prison. the national  archives dont hold records for preston prison and lancs archives are incomplete. does anyone know where i can find any info on the actual sentences passed on criminals in the courts.
thanks

[Rena]

It looks like the National archives might hold a few  Lancashire Assize court records, such as when a prisoner got sent down:

scroll down until you see Assizes 13 (Criminal Assizes) and Assizes 12 (civil assizes) - unfortunately it looks like some years are missing

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/localhistory/gallery4/assizes.htm

Good Luck

[jansen]

hi rena.
thanks for that. i have e-mailed the national archives with the info i require so wait to see the outcome.
regards. jansen

[pbmartin]

A word of caution. The trial could have taken place anywhere - prisoners were sometimes sent a long way.

I found a man in HMP Borstal (Rochester, Kent) in the 1881 census. Eventually I discovered he had been given 7 years at the Quarter Sessions in Stafford in 1876.

A good line of research is to try the 19th century newspapers collection for a report of the trial. Once you've got the place and date of a trial, you can then access the TNA records with confidence.

good luck,
Martin

[jansen]

the problem i have is that i dont know any dates of when my ancestor was sent to prison.
in the 1871 census he is living with his family in the rural outskirts of blackburn but in prison in 1881. by 1891 he is living in the union workhouse in blackburn where he died in 1892.
i have started going through the local newspapers but gave up as there too many years to research.

[pbmartin]

That was exactly the problem I faced. When the British Library Nineteenth Century newspapers became searchable online, it only took a couple of hours to find reports on three trials. Despite a name (David White) that's not uncommon, combining it with his occupation and home town filtered the search results to a managable number.

If you give some details of your ancestor, someone here might be able to find him.

Martin

[Isabel H]

If the person was tried at Assizes or Quarter Sessions they will be listed in Calendars of Prisoners (HO140) or Criminal Registers (HO27) at TNA. These are arranged by County and will provide the date and the result of the trial.

I agree that if you have access to it the British Library 19th Century newspaper database is definitely worth a try.. I found details of a Lancs. trial that I would not otherwise have found, but only after I'd finally got around to reading the search tips!

Have you looked for the person's name in Access to Archives (via the TNA website)? My prisoner's name turned up there, and although the record  turned out not to contain anything of use, it did give a clue to his whereabouts.

[welshsewer]

A word of caution. The trial could have taken place anywhere - prisoners were sometimes sent a long way.

I found a man in HMP Borstal (Rochester, Kent) in the 1881 census. Eventually I discovered he had been given 7 years at the Quarter Sessions in Stafford in 1876.

A male relation of mine was in HMP Borstal (Rochester, Kent) in the 1881 census.  I would love to find out why he was in prison and for how long.  How did you find out that your man had been sentenced to 7 years
Thanks, W

[FosseWay]

The E&W Criminal Registers on Ancestry may help -- they cover up to 1892.