Maidstone Prison circa 1891 - advice needed, please

[Josephine]

A woman with my g-g-grandmother's name, approximate age and birthplace is listed in Maidstone Prison in the 1891 census. I have been unable to rule her in or out as my g-g-grandmother.

I just went through the Criminal Registers on Ancestry from 1881-1892, page by page, for Kent County, and didn't find any mention of the woman in question. (She doesn't show up anywhere in England in various searches of the index; that's why I browsed the actual images for Kent. I started in 1881 because I have her -- not in prison -- in the 1881 census.)

Where does this leave me and what does this tell me? If she's not listed in those records, is she listed anywhere else? I had high hopes of finding her in this record set and then using that information to somehow obtain more detailed court records about her crime and punishment.

I'd appreciate any advice anyone can give me on where and how I might be able to find information about this particular prisoner/case. (I live in Canada.)

Thank you,
Josephine

[Milliepede]

Was she a single woman at the time? 

Who is she with in 1881 and are those people around in 1891 without her?

[hanes teulu]

www.ukpressonline.co.uk/ukpressonline/?sf=KM

Link to a free, on line Kent Newspaper archive (requires registering).

 Else you could consider British Newspaper Archive or Find My Past newspapers (subscription sites).

[stanmapstone]

If you give a name we could see if she is mentioned in a newspaper.
Stan

[Josephine]

Many thanks to everyone for your kind offers of help and especially to hanes teulu for the tip re. the ukpressonline site!

I found the woman in question and mention of her crime and punishment in an article on that site. Unfortunately, the article didn't give any identifying details about her other than her name, but at least it gave me information that I can use to try to find more info in other records.

I also -- surprise, surprise! -- found another ancestor mentioned in a few articles who, it turns out, did some hard time in jail for theft.

Yikes! Be careful what you wish for, eh? 

Thanks again!
Josephine

[Suffolkgal]

You might also like to try the National Archives as http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/.  I, too, came across someone in jail and put her name in the National Archives search engine and came up with a whole file, just on her!!!  Very lucky, I know, as she didn't actually die until 1915 so, at the time, it was within the 100 years so I think should really have been under restricted access!!

[hanes teulu]

Josephine,
Always nice to get a result!!

[Josephine]

Suffolkgal -- Thank you! No such luck for me with these two but it's good to know and always worth a shot!

Again, my thanks to all!

Josephine