Prison Deaths

[Nicolina]

If some-one died in Wakefield Prison, in the 1850's where else ought I to look for information? There is no death record at the GRO. He appears on the 1851 Census and then nothing. His wife re-married in 1862 (awaiting certificate).
However, on the 1851 Census she was already calling herself a widow, so I need to prove whether she was actually a bigamist or not. :confused:

So who was the Black Sheep? Or do I have two? |banghead|

[Penny Gallo]

I haven't read it, but there is a book by a former governor of Wakefield Prison, R S Duncan, called "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" about the history of Wakefield Prison. He postulates that the mulberry tree nursery rhyme came from the female prisoners leading their children around this tree. The prison had just been rebuilt when your chappy was incarcerated. His cell would have had a hammock, small table, 3-legged stool and would have been entitled to/ forced to have a warm bath every fortnight.
Does the local records office hold any of the old prison records? It might be possible to find out how long he was sentenced to - or if he died there. Good luck with your search - this sounds a juicy one!

[Nicolina]

thanks Penny, I'll see if I can get a copy of that book. I cannot remember what he was convicted of but a cousin has a copy of a newspaper report about him being dragged, screaming, from Norwich Castle Jail in 1850 to be tranferred to Wakefield. One or two more were taken that day including one who was due to be transported for murdering a relative of his. He also shows up in Wakefield on the 1851 Census.
no wonder we become addicted, it's such good fun.
Elaine

[Penny Gallo]

I wonder why he was moved? Perhaps it was the Victorian version of overcrowding? The new Wakefield had 732 cells to fill.

Although it's a bit of a coffee-table book, there is also "Victorian and Edwardian Crime and Punishment" by Richard Whitemoor. It's an old Batsford book from 1978. The photographs are fascinating. Although the prison ones don't have any Wakefield ones, it would be worth hunting out. I don't think that routine photographing of prisoners came in until the 1860s, but I suspect your relly would have been like the prisoner who is shown having to be held down by three burly policemen and a pair of handcuffs before he would submit to this incriminating new measure.

[Nicolina]

maybe he wanted to be as near to his wife as possible because he didn't trust her.
|laugh1|