PARKHURST PRISON

[katerina]

HI,
CAN ANY BRIGHT SPARK HELP ME IN GETTING INFORMATION ON MY GRANDAD WHO WAS SENT TO PARKHURST PRISON ON THE ISLE OF WHITE ABOUT 1924 TO 1930. I HAVE WRITEN SO MANY TIMES TO PARKHURST, BUT NO ONE HAS BOTHERED TO REPLY. GRANDAD WAS JOSEPH JACKSON FROM DOCKHEAD BERMONDSEY, AND MUM SAYS HE WAS SENT THERE FOR NEARLY KILLING A POLICEMAN. BUT I DONT KNOW IF THATS THE TRUTH, HE GOT IN WITH A TURKISH CHAP BUT WHAT THEY DONE STILL REMAINS A MYSTERY. MUM (WHO IS NOW 91) STILL REMEMBERS VISITING HIM WHEN SHE WAS ONLY 8. JO WAS A BERMONDSEY BOXER. I JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW TO FIND ANY RECORDS ABOUT THAT TIME THAT WILL THROW SOME LIGHT ON THE WHOLE THING. HELP FROM ANYONE IS MOST WELCOME
KATE

[Peter Goodey]

On the assumption that he was probably tried at the Old Bailey, have a read of this -

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/c...sLeafletID=172

[Lesley Robertson]

HI,
CAN ANY BRIGHT SPARK HELP ME IN GETTING INFORMATION ON MY GRANDAD WHO WAS SENT TO PARKHURST PRISON ON THE ISLE OF WHITE ABOUT 1924 TO 1930. I HAVE WRITEN SO MANY TIMES TO PARKHURST, BUT NO ONE HAS BOTHERED TO REPLY. GRANDAD WAS JOSEPH JACKSON FROM DOCKHEAD BERMONDSEY, AND MUM SAYS HE WAS SENT THERE FOR NEARLY KILLING A POLICEMAN. BUT I DONT KNOW IF THATS THE TRUTH, HE GOT IN WITH A TURKISH CHAP BUT WHAT THEY DONE STILL REMAINS A MYSTERY. MUM (WHO IS NOW 91) STILL REMEMBERS VISITING HIM WHEN SHE WAS ONLY 8. JO WAS A BERMONDSEY BOXER. I JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW TO FIND ANY RECORDS ABOUT THAT TIME THAT WILL THROW SOME LIGHT ON THE WHOLE THING. HELP FROM ANYONE IS MOST WELCOME
KATE

If you know roughly where he was living before ge got sent down, have a go at finding newspaper reports of the time. If he did attack a policeman, it almost certainly would have been mentioned.

BTW, many people see messages entirly in caps as "shouting", and don't like it.

Lesley

[katerina]

MANY THANKS LESLEY, WILL GIVE IT A GO, I HAVE TRIED ALL THE BERMONDSEY PAPER OF ABOUT THAT TIME, BUT NOTHING TURNED UP, SO I DONT THINK IT COULD HAVE BEEN WHAT MUM SAID, BUT SOMETHING IS THERE AND SHE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT A GUN .I NEVER KNEW JO JACKSON (GRANDAD0 AND HAVE NEVER SEEN A PHOTO, I JUST WONDERED IF PARKHURST HAD MUG SHOTS OF THEIR CONVICTS, AGAIN IT SEEMS A CLOSED SHOP.
ONCE AGAIN MANY THAX FOR YOUR REPLY, I WILL LOOK INTO IT.
KINDEST REGARDS
KATE

[katerina]

Got the message about Caps and taken it in as you can see.

[katerina]

Thanx Peter for the info i will go through it and see where it leads, lovely to get a reply, will keep you posted .............kate

[Geoffers]

Some offences of the Central Criminal Court and Assizes, also of the Metropolitan Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions are individually indexed on The National Archives' (TNA) web-site. It may be worth a search (it's free and a good excuse to have a cuppa).

Using The Catalogue
In the word or phrase field enter a surname
In the year range - restrict this to a fairly wide range (he may have been sent down earlier than you think), so try 1916-1936
You can leave the department or series code blank. if you do, you will get a list of numbers of records within each class at TNA.

You need to click on the numbers on the right of the screen where records are shown within the following codes (the codes are shown on the left of the screen under 'catalogue reference'):

ASSI (Assizes)
CRIM (Central Criminal Court)
MEPO (Metropolitan Police)
DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions)
PCOM (Prison Commission)

You might also try HO (Home Office) in case this was a capital offence for which the death penatly was commuted - though you may have to wade through some naturalization records to find possible case of interest.

IF you find an entry of interest, you can request a copy (for which there is a fee).

[Peter Goodey]

Thanx Peter for the info i will go through it and see where it leads, lovely to get a reply, will keep you posted .............kate

You're welcome. I was working on the assumption that he was living in Bermondsey and that the offence was not so trivial that it was tried at a lower court than the Central Criminal Court.

The Calendars of Indictments in CRIM 5 at the National Archives are reasonably easy to use although you would have to go and search in person.

In the meantime, Geoffers has provided details of some searches you can do online.

[JulieW]

HI,
CAN ANY BRIGHT SPARK HELP ME IN GETTING INFORMATION ON MY GRANDAD WHO WAS SENT TO PARKHURST PRISON ON THE ISLE OF WHITE ABOUT 1924 TO 1930. I HAVE WRITEN SO MANY TIMES TO PARKHURST, BUT NO ONE HAS BOTHERED TO REPLY. GRANDAD WAS JOSEPH JACKSON FROM DOCKHEAD BERMONDSEY, AND MUM SAYS HE WAS SENT THERE FOR NEARLY KILLING A POLICEMAN. BUT I DONT KNOW IF THATS THE TRUTH, HE GOT IN WITH A TURKISH CHAP BUT WHAT THEY DONE STILL REMAINS A MYSTERY. MUM (WHO IS NOW 91) STILL REMEMBERS VISITING HIM WHEN SHE WAS ONLY 8. JO WAS A BERMONDSEY BOXER. I JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW TO FIND ANY RECORDS ABOUT THAT TIME THAT WILL THROW SOME LIGHT ON THE WHOLE THING. HELP FROM ANYONE IS MOST WELCOME
KATE

Hi there. Parkhurst Prison has a museum which can be visited at certain times. There is a wealth of information there. I visited a few years ago and found it quite interesting. As far as I know it is still open. My Grandad was a prison officer there. By the way it is Isle of Wight - not WHITE. Good luck with the search JulieW

[katerina]

Hi Julie,
Thanx for correcting the spelling of White to Wight, i knew at the time of writing that it didnt look right. Julie tell me can anyone just go to the museum, or do you have to book an appointment. i cant understand why i have never got a reply from the prison. Do you think they would still have records for that period in time 1920- 1930, how long ago was your Grandad an officer there.
My Granadad would turn in his grave his he knew his grandaughter is a police constable in the Surrey area, and her husband is in the Met. police on the gun squad, strange world we live in, its come full circle. Thanx Ju for your help, Kate