charles venners holloway

[cwilding]

my ancester charles venners b.1823 ish is on the 1901 cencus in holloway prison age 78! i would like to find out why he was there ,also i know he died age 85 but am unsure if he died in prison , can anyone help ? i know i can access prison records at the national archives kew , but i live in the highlands of scotland so its very unlikely i will be visiting anytime soon ! (although i would love to go on holiday to visit all the places my ancesters lived , think i might give holloway prison a miss though !)

[Mutley]

You can probably access the Times Online at your local library. It should give details of his crime.
Unfortunately, I do not think that we can access from home anymore (I cannot from Portugal but you may be able to, seeing as you are in the UK). It may be worth googling. Bedfordshire Library used to allow you to join from afar and search from home.

If I have found the right Charles, born in Yorkshire and married to Ruth, then he was a silversmith, and in 1871 lived in a part of London that contained many jewellers, maybe he was in receipt of stolen goods.

The Old Bailey online also has many trials, worth a search here (http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/)

Also, how do you know he died at 85, if you are sure then can you find a death certificate. It would tell you where he died.

Good Luck

[cwilding]

i found the bdm ref. for him, and i will buy the certificate if i have no other way of finding out , but currently with limited funds for my research im trying to keep myself from buying any that are not absolutely direct links, charles is my greatgrandmothers ,fathers, brother so........

[cwilding]

i checked the old bailey ....no luck , so i assume it wasnt too serious ? i did also think along the same lines with the stolen goods! and will give the times ago . thanks for your help.

[Jan1954]

According to HM Prison Service, Holloway (http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/prison.asp?id=454,15,2,15,454,0) became an all female prison circa 1902. So, if it was later that he died, chances are that he was not still there. ;) However, he may have been transferred.

Have you seen this TNA guide (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=120&j=1) to Tracing 19th and 20th century criminals?

[cwilding]

thank you , i read up loads on holloway and it still didnt register about the prison becoming all female ! my brain is frying!