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  1. #1
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    Default Conviction - Central Criminal Court 1918

    Hi,

    I wonder if anyone can point me to where I might find a record of this conviction. I understood from the Archives website that it would be on Find My Past but either I misunderstood or I'm not searching correctly.

    I can't figure out how to insert an image, but the text reads:

    Report of conviction on 19-11-18, of "Perjury" at Central Criminal Court ? Sentence 3 months in [unclear - looks like a pi symbol] Division. Awaiting trial from 24-10-18 to 19-11-18.

    The comment in [...] is mine, but the question mark after the name of the court is in the handwritten text which is taken from a military file of a WW1 South African soldier recuperating at Richmond Military Hospital. The file itself is confusing, as it uses 3 names interchangeably (two different Afrikaans names and an English version of one of them). As one name married in the UK, and another was married in South Africa at the same time, I suspect the conviction might relate to bigamy or to enlisting under a false name.

    I'd love to clear up this mystery!

    Regards,

    Nikki

  2. #2
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    hi
    fascinating .. can you give us some details , ie the names ,
    thanks
    dean

  3. #3
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    https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...riminal-court/

    Above is a link to the National Archives guide to trials at the old Bailey. You can see from that that after 1913 you are most likely to have to rely on newspaper reports.

    However there may be other records sources such as those held by Findmypast whose criminal record collection goes up to 1935.

    If you select the All Records option in the search view and then in the search box which then appears type in Crime you will see the various record sets available.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by nd_SAOZ View Post
    Hi,

    I wonder if anyone can point me to where I might find a record of this conviction. I understood from the Archives website that it would be on Find My Past but either I misunderstood or I'm not searching correctly.

    I can't figure out how to insert an image, but the text reads:

    Regards,
    Nikki
    Hi Nikki
    Just in case you need it in future here are the instructions for uploading an image to BG.

    The first step is to make sure that you are in Go Advanced mode on the Brit-Gen thread where you want to place the image. Click on the picture frame in the row of images above the reply box. (6 from the RH side.) The box that appears requires a URL address.
    You have to upload your photo to a free site which will provide a URL address. I use Postimage which is very simple.
    On the home page of Postimage click on 'Choose images' then find and click on the file you want to upload where you have the photo stored on your computer eg Pictures. Then click on the particular folder that holds your picture and Open it. Choose your photo, click on it and click on Open. You are now taken back to the Postimage page where you are given a choice of 9 links. Click on the URL 'Hotlink for forum' Now right click on the URL address and then click on Copy. Go back to the reply box on the Brit-Gen thread and in the URL box right click on your mouse and from the menu click on paste. The URL for your photo is now ready to be posted on the forum along with any information you have typed in to accompany it.
    I hope I have explained this clearly enough for you to have a go. There are other free sites from which to upload images but not being very tech savvy I found the one above the easiest to use.
    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by deanC View Post
    hi
    fascinating .. can you give us some details , ie the names ,
    thanks
    dean
    Here goes!

    His military file has his name as Adriaan Johannes Fourie and Abraham Johannes Fourie. In the files kept during his convalescence in the UK for amputation of RIGHT leg he also uses the name Andrew John Fourie, although typically that would be an Anglicisation of "Andries Johannes" - this name does in fact appear once in the military files (which are all linked by his service number). Adriaan Johannes and Andrew John predominate in the records, with Abraham Johannes only appearing on two papers, one of which conflicts in birthplace, but agrees in terms of other enlistment details. In other words, on balance, I initially believed him to be Adriaan Johannes Fourie.

    However, apart from conflicting ages and birthplaces in the records there are two identifying details: his wife's name, Martha, and twin daughters, with birth date given. I was able to connect these to an Abraham Johannes Fourie in South Africa: married in 1915, but with two daughter born in 1912. At death he is listed as a military pensioner, and his death in the 1940s related to gangrene from amputation of LEFT leg. He has another daughter in South Africa in the 1930s. One of the twins, his wife and younger daughter are listed in his estate file.

    In between he (as Andrew John Fourie) has a daughter in 1919 in the UK. Her birthplace is listed as the same address as one of the addresses in his military records. The mother uses his surname, however, when I checked again, there is no record of a marriage.

    As mentioned above, there is a note in the military file about a perjury conviction. I followed the advice given and had a quick look in the newspapers, but only one record appeared, in a police newspaper which simply states that on his conviction for perjury the judge lamented the growing problem of perjury in the courts. It didn't say what exactly the case related to.

    I am a (distant) DNA match to one of his descendants and although we can't see the link, it is, as you say, fascinating, so I keep trying to unravel his background to confirm exactly who he was!

  6. #6
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    Thanks Christina - it makes sense if I understand that I have to use a URL as opposed to simply linking to an image saved on my computer.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Megan Roberts View Post
    https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...riminal-court/

    Above is a link to the National Archives guide to trials at the old Bailey. You can see from that that after 1913 you are most likely to have to rely on newspaper reports.
    Thanks Megan. I looked in the British Newspaper Archive and used one of my free intro downloads to get the one article that mentioned the case. Unfortunately it didn't give the details of the conviction. I'll have another look on Find my Past.

  8. #8
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    so the daughter born UK 1919 is Josephine Fourie at Richmond with mother's maiden name CLARK ?
    birth index volume 2a page 794

  9. #9
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    if I have the correct person the marriage to Martha Jacoba Harmse (aged "19") at Witbank was 18 May 1917 rather than 1915, but perhaps thats what you meant. Of course that would make her very young to be a mother in 1912.

    sorry, I was getting confused.

    ABRAHAM Johannes Fourie married Martha Alletta Ackerman on 2 March 1915.

    ANDRIES Johannes Fourie married Martha Jacoba Harmse 18 May 1917.

    and another ANDRIES Johannes Fourie married Jacoba Johanna Snyman 10 January 1912.

  10. #10
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    I had a quick look at FMP’s criminal records and just searched on “Fourie” I could not see your man in 1919. However I did find the record of a William Rousman otherwise known as Jacob Johannes Fourie who was found guilty of breaking and entering a warehouse by a court in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire on 27 July 1911 and was sentenced to 15 months hard labour. I don’t whether or not there is a connection to your man, but he was a 28 year old tailor with a long criminal record in South Africa, all under the name of Jacob Johannes Fourie:

    15 June 1903 Capetown – 18 months for shopbreaking
    25 Sept 1903 Capetown – 3 months for escaping
    27 June 1905 Wynberg – 3 months for housebreaking
    27 June 1905 Wynberg – 6 months for being in possession of housebreaking tools
    18 May 1906 Johannesburg – 6 months for theft
    11 Jan 1907 Bloemfontein – 9 months for theft
    6 Feb 1908 Johannesburg – 2 ½ years for storebreaking
    17 Jun 1910 Pretoria – 1 month pending deportation - undesirable

    However, in the newspaper archive (Illustrated Police News 28 November 1918)
    “When Andrew John Fourie pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to committing perjury, the Common Sergeant said perjury was rife in the courts, and if allowed to go by without punishment it would never be stopped. The accused was sentenced to three months in the second division.”

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