Criminal records collection finished
Findmypast ( findmypast.co.uk) has completed its England and Wales, Crime, Prisons and Punishment collection by adding 68,000 images and transcripts. The dataset is now the largest set of England and Wales criminal records online, with over 5.7 million records.
The records, digitised in partnership with The National Archives in Kew, cover the criminal justice system from 1770 to 1935.
The new latest additions come from institutions including courts, prisons, convict hulks and criminal lunatic asylums, and are currently held by the Home Office, Prison Commission and Central Criminal Court.
The records are varied, typically providing researchers tracing criminal ancestors with details such as the nature of the crime and the sentence received. Many records include physical descriptions, petitions for clemency, reports on behaviour, health and education and mugshots, as well as details of victims and prison officials.
One of the most notorious criminals found in the records is Catherine Wilson, a nurse who was hanged at Newgate Gaol in 1862 for the murder of a patient, Maria Soames. She was the last woman to be publicly hanged in England, in front of a crowd of 20,000 people, and was thought to have killed six other victims. The records show that Wilson, aged 40, was tried before Justice Byles on 25-27 September 1862.
Findmypast also includes a record of correspondence on behalf of Sir George Grey, the Home Secretary, rejecting appeals on Wilson’s behalf to intervene in the case.