Sixteen years after a collection of records detailing prisoners of Bedford jail first began, reporter ADAM THOMPSON speaks to two of the developers who play a big part in providing the county’s history online . . .
In the same week the Government is looking to introduce caps on those seeking benefits, it is a sobering reminder that less than 200 years ago parents unable to afford to pay for their child were sentenced to a year of hard labour in prison.
It was by accident I stumbled across information on the fascinating website of Victorian Crime and Punishment - an online collection of prison records from Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire 16 years in the making - through a Google alert.
I had expected it to be a list of crimes such as ‘refusing to move his hat in a church’ or ‘illegally roasting chestnuts over an open fire’ but I was staggered by the severity of some of the sentences dished out to ruffians.
Gareth Davies and Dianne Earl, developers for the website, tell me that in 19th century Bedfordshire it was offences in which trust was exploited that were considered the most heinous.
Gareth said: “It’s interesting to look back on the records and see which crimes carried the longest sentence. It is clear to see those that were sentenced for the significant periods inside Bedford Prison was when they stole from someone in a position of trust, such as stealing from an employee or a family member.
“This is what caused outrage in the Victorian community. Where nowadays crime on a person carries a more hefty sentence than crime on a property, in Victorian times the records show this was the opposite and crime on property was taken far more seriously than on a person.” The website started in 2006 but had been brainstormed in 1996 following a joint venture between Bedfordshire County Council’s archive department and Cambridge Police Constabulary combining records.
It contains tens of thousands of documents of prisoners sent to Bedford jail for crimes ranging from begging to stealing livestock.
It was initially intended to aid children in the East of England with their history education but the website is used worldwide, often tracing their ancestors who were sentenced to ‘transportation’.” Dianne said: “The reaction to the website has been good. It is accessed globally and often Australians will look up relatives.
“There’s an option to provide more information about a prisoner and you find people and there are examples of people being sentenced to transportation who went on to do quite well for themselves.” One of the website’s more interesting records is that of Sarah Dazley (sometimes Dazeley). She was the last woman to be hanged outside Bedford Prison in St Loyes Street on August 5, 1843. Gareth said: “This was one of the final hangings to be carried out in public.
She had been found guilty of poisoning her child and her husband.” The youngest recorded person to serve time in the prison was a five-year-old boy named William Murray who was sentenced in 1818 for being a vagrant in Biggleswade. In total there are more than 31,000 people on the database - of that figure 1,247 who served time in the jail were under the age of 11 so remind your child of that fact when they play up in Sainsbury’s.
Dianne tells me that ‘bastardy’ was a common offence. ‘Bastardy?’ I ask. She explained: “Bastardy was an offence when the mother or the father couldn’t afford to pay for the child and he or she had become the responsibility of the state.
Obviously back then it was more difficult to prove a child was a man’s than a woman and the punishment was often a year of hard labour.” Jail for not being able to pay for your child! I wonder how the state of the prison population would look if that law was to make a return.
Crime facts:
Prisoners had ‘identifying marks’ put on their records. In Victorian Britain it was almost unheard of to have someone described as having blue eyes, instead it was grey.
In September 1853 ten-year-old Reuben Spring of Girtford near Sandy was sentenced to three months in Bedford prison for putting stones on the Northern Railway track.
Two hundred years ago in 1812, William Osborn, 30, of Bedford was given two months hard labour and a public whipping. His offence? Leaving his family.
You can visit the Victorian Crime and Punishment website at vcp.e2bn.org
