Register of criminal offenders in Nottingham, England , circa 1879-circa 1921
- Title(s):
- Register of criminal offenders in Nottingham, England : manuscript.
- Published/Created:
- Nottingham?, England, circa 1879-circa 1921.
- Physical Description:
- 83 leaves (with blanks after leaf 50) : photographs ; 19 cm
- Holdings:
- Rare Books and ManuscriptsFlat C 2018 6Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund[Request]
- Copyright Status:
- Copyright Undetermined
- Full Orbis Record:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/13226548
- Classification:
- Archives & Manuscripts
- Notes:
- Manuscript register, in multiple hands, of 144 criminal offenders in or around Nottingham, England, presumably compiled by the local police or jail administrator, circa 1879-1921. The manuscript is written on paper designed expressly for recording criminal information, with space allocated (on leaf versos) for noting an offender's name, alias, trade, place of birth, age, height, hair color, eye color, and distinguishing marks. On the facing recto are columns for recording dates and categories of crimes, sentences, and the places where the offender was tried. For 88 entries, the record is accompanied by a photographic portrait (or mug shot). A handful of photographs were taken in the 1880s or 1890s; the remainder were taken between 1910 and 1921. An alphabetical index at front, [24] pages, includes proper names and aliases.
Most of the crimes recorded are relatively minor. They include numerous incidents of larceny, card sharping, petty theft, loitering, frequenting, begging, and assault. The sentences are commensurate, generally measuring in days and months rather than years. For most individuals in the register, multiple crimes (and multiple terms in jail) are recorded -- occasionally a dozen or more. The register includes two women (on leaf 11), repeat offenders aged 70 and 40 respectively; for the latter (Elizabeth Duffy), a photograph is included.
The locations of trials noted in the volume are throughout England, but the most prominent location is Nottingham -- especially in the earlier entries. This appears to point to Nottingham as the most likely place of production.
The volume is part of a collection of four items concerning the Nottingham House of Correction, St. John's Street, including: [1] a wooden box, featuring a naive inlay design of a sailing ship; [2] a set of seven prison keys; [3] a framed albumen print of "St. John Street Prison" in Nottingham; and [4] the present manuscript volume. For a description of the entire collection, see the link provided herewith. - Subject Terms:
- Correctional institutions -- Great Britain.Crime -- Great Britain.Criminal justice, Administration of -- Great Britain.Criminal records -- Great Britain.Criminals -- Great Britain.House of Correction (Nottingham, England)Imprisonment -- Great Britain.Nottingham (England) -- Social life and customs.
- Form/Genre:
- Registers.
Identification photographs.
Photographs.
Albumen prints.
Gelatin silver prints.
Mug shots. - Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
Captive Bodies: British Prisons, 1750-1900 (Yale Center for British Art, 2018-08-27 - 2018-12-17) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
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