RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: ali. on Sunday 27 October 19 20:42 GMT (UK)
-
Hey all, I was wondering if anyone had ever found pictures of their criminal ancestors online or in records? I imagine it would be rare, but interesting!
I say mainly because I am desperate to find a picture of my 2x great grandfather or his brother. Both were habitual criminals arrested 10+ times, mostly for theft.
My 2x ggrandfather was Richard Edwards Noble b.1876 and stayed in the North of England mostly stealing handbags. His brother was John Robert Noble (alias Charles Henry Norton or Algernon Arthur Carrington) b.1875 who lived in Paddington as a jeweller and pretended to be a high-end jeweller in Hatton Garden, when his jewellery was mostly stolen.
They were arrested between 1920-1940 mostly so I wonder if that is too recent to yield any real results; though it's possible John was arrested in 1892 in Manchester. Anyone had any success with seeing the faces of criminal ancestors?
Thanks!
Ali
-
I went to an exhibition at the Museum of London in 2015 called The Crime Museum Uncovered. It had exhibits of notorious criminals and mugshots of some not so notorious. Perhaps you could check out The Crime Museum in London.
-
The New South Wales (Australia) state archives has digitised the Gaol photos and crim sheets for men and women who served time in NSW prisons in the late 1800s and early 1900s ... and those images are freely available online.
ADD
https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/gaol-inmates-prisoners-guide
and
https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/gaol-inmates-prisoners-photos-index
JM
-
Here’s a marvellous collection put online by Tyne & Wear Archives
https://www.flickr.com/photos/twm_news/sets/72157625464218629/with/5257838998/
Click on each photo for more details.
-
Not quite a mug shot but after great grandfather got arrested for being an alien without necessary papers in WW1. He procured an aliem 👽 registration documentwithhis country of origin ...and a photo
Also there was a photo of his hospital record 1920
There was a photo of a lady who may great grandmother in a newspaper report about a major crime so you could try that angle too
-
I was sent the mugshot of my great grandfather in 1906. Tasmania, non payment of maintenance. I think my cousin found it on Family Search.
-
We used to live about 10 miles form St Neots in Cambridgeshire and were aware that my husband's Eaton family came from there. Despite having visited the town many times we'd never been to the little museum.
Having popped in for a quick look one rainy afternoon we discovered that the old lock up was part of the museum with a few photos of past miscreants with relevant information on the walls....and there was Thomas Eaton - a persistent (if petty) thief...and one of my husband's great, great uncles
We have found over the years since that when there is an article in either local or even tabloid newspapers about Victorian criminals that Thomas' mug shot very often appears
So Thomas has gone from being a poor no-body - to someone whose face occasionally appears in the national news! ;D
-
I found one of a distant relative serving time in San Quentin for the forgery of cheques, this was his 4 trip to San Quentin, lovely mugshot.
-
Where did you find the San Quentin picture? I've got someone sent to San Quentin for safe cracking.
-
Some published Mug Shots.
American Mugshots seem to be published more often
https://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/collections/photographs/guide/corrections/sq-album/
-
I have a 2x-great-grandfather that was involved in a publicized case after he, a treasurer of a local railroad union, forged a signature and walked away with $1200 of the $2000 owed to a recent widow in his union. He was sent to Sing Sing and the intake forms describe him as missing most teeth, some fingers, large facial scars, enormous posture. Would love to see a photo of him.
-
Thanks, barryd. I've been to that page several times but I can't figure out how to go any further. Following the link to the 'Department of Corrections, San Quentin State Prison Records,' it says "See the Department of Corrections finding aid at the California State Archives for additional information." Maybe it's just me, but I can't find the so-called finding aid or any other way to search the records.
-
For those with links to Leicester, the archives hold books of photos of criminals from the late Victorian era.
-
A couple of years ago, I did a lookup at Kew that led to photos from the Police Gazette:
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=781375.msg6364502#msg6364502
As it stated earlier in that thread, TNA's Habitual Criminal Registers (without the Photo supplement) are searchable on FindMyPast and there are entries for your two members of the Noble Gang.
The Photo Supplements at Kew are available from 1914 - 1938 but I'm not sure how shaunj found the right reference entry to look for.
According to TNA, there appear to be good sets of Police Gazettes at Bristol and Doncaster Archives, if that's any use
-
Found on Ancestry a long time ago.
-
A couple of years ago, I did a lookup at Kew that led to photos from the Police Gazette:
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=781375.msg6364502#msg6364502
As it stated earlier in that thread, TNA's Habitual Criminal Registers (without the Photo supplement) are searchable on FindMyPast and there are entries for your two members of the Noble Gang.
The Photo Supplements at Kew are available from 1914 - 1938 but I'm not sure how shaunj found the right reference entry to look for.
According to TNA, there appear to be good sets of Police Gazettes at Bristol and Doncaster Archives, if that's any use
Do you know what information would be needed to do a lookup at Kew? I know Richard appeared in the Police Gazette 3 Dec 1931 and 11 Dec 1931. The latter says 'See Case No. 16, 3-12-31'
but haven't found a Police Gazette entry for his brother John. I can never get Digital Panopticon to work so I can't find details of which Volume/Supplement to look for. Thanks so much for the thread link, it's really helpful in pointing me in the right direction.