Charles Mills - Saltley Reformatory Inmate
| No. in Admissions Register: | 923 |
| Age: | 13 |
| Whence received: | H M Prison Stafford |
| Description: | |
| Complexion: | Fresh |
| Hair colour: | Light brown |
| Eyes colour: | Blue |
| Height: | 4 ft 4½ ins |
| Particular marks: | Scar centre of forehead; small brown patch back of right shoulder |
| State of health: | Good |
| Able-bodied? | Yes |
| Date of admission: | 10 August 1889 |
| Late residence: | 4 house Gas Yard, Union Mill Street, Wolverhampton |
| Parish he belongs to: | St James, Wolverhampton |
| Customary work and mode of life: | None |
| Whether illegitimate: | No |
| State of education: | |
| Reads: | Not at all |
| Writes: | Not at all |
| Offence: | Stealing chocolate |
| Circumstances which may have led to it: | Seems never to have attended school. His parents can hardly have done their duty to him |
| Date of sentence, by whom and court: | 11 July 1889; J Jones and J Marston; Wolverhampton Police Court |
| Where imprisoned: | H M Prison |
| Sentence: | 1 month hard labour in prison, 5 years at Saltley |
| Previous committals: | |
| Number: | 3 |
| Length: | 1) has been 2 years in the Wolverhampton Day Industrial School and was an inmate of that institution when apprehended for the offence that sent him to Saltley; 2) 1 day and 12 strokes; 3) Let off |
| For what: | 1) Non-attendance at school; 2) stealing leggings in company with G Poole [boy 912]; sleeping out (charged in June) |
| Father's name: | Thomas Mills |
| Occupation: | Stoker at East Dowe(?) Wolverhampton |
| Mother's name: | Sarah Mills |
| Occupation: | - |
| Parents dead? | Neither |
| Survivor married again? | - |
| Parents' treatment of child: | Don't seem to have had much control over the boy |
| Character of parents | Reported fair in each case |
| Parents' wages: | Father 16s per week, mother nil |
| Amount parents agree to pay: | Not assessed |
| Parents address: | 4 house Gas Yard, Union Mill Street, Wolverhampton |
| Superintendent of police (to collect payments): | Chief Constable, Wolverhampton |
| Person making this return: | - |
| Notes: | |
| 29 January 1889 A previous offence was reported in the Wolverhampton Express and Star Thursday 29 January 1889 p.3 col.3: JEREMIAH WAS LIGHTING HIS PIPE. Jeremiah Smith (14), George Pool (13) [surname spelled thus], Charles Mills (13), George Bowring (12), John Thomas Reaney (12), Charles Fisher (12), all of whom attend the Day Industrial School, were charged with stealing a pair of leggings, the property of William Cook, general dealer, Victoria-street. - The leggings were left hanging outside Mr. Cook's shop, and being missed information was given to Police-sergeant Porton, who found all the boys in the Gaiety Music Hall entry, Reaney having concealed the leggings in his trousers. All the lads, according to one of the youngster's statements, tried the leggings on, but could not decide on the ownership. Reaney denied any connection with the theft, stating that he was in the Gaiety entry at the time, and that Smith was lighting his pipe. Smith's mother said she had been to the Day Industrial School, and the mistress gave her boy an excellent corrector - (character?) It was stated that the boys had only left the Industrial School about half an hour previously, the Deputy Clerk (Mr. Turton) observing that this was an instance of the influence which was exercised by such institutions. - Five of the boys were ordered to receive 12 strokes with the birch rod, but Jeremiah being too old for castigation was ordered to he kept in the cells for three days, during which time he will be able to smoke the pipe of reflection at leisure. - The Mayor commented strongly on the practice of hanging goods outside shop windows, and remarked that It was a great cause of temptation to street waifs. | |
| 12 July 1889 The crime that sent him to Saltley was briefly reported in the Birmingham Daily Post Friday 12 July 1889 p.7 cols.5: WOLVERHAMPTON. A JUVENILE THIEF. -Charles Mills (13), Horseley Fields, was yesterday, at the Police Court, sentenced to a month's imprisonment and to five years' detention in a reformatory for stealing a quantity of chocolate, the property of William Glenn, confectioner, Worcester Street. The lad is a scholar at the Industrial School, and Police-sergeant Hatfield said that the boys of that institution caused a great deal of trouble by their dishonesty. | |
| 1 April 1893 The Register of Boys on Licence records that Mills was licensed to go out and work for J & C Clarke & Co, Wolverhampton | |
| 9 August 1894 Sentence expired whilst on licence, discharged from Saltley | |