Samuel Whittaker - Saltley Reformatory Inmate
| No. in Admissions Register: | 1037 |
| Age: | 13 (born 19 May 1880) |
| Whence received: | H M Prison Stafford |
| Description: | |
| Complexion: | Fresh |
| Hair colour: | Light brown |
| Eyes colour: | Blue |
| Height: | 4 ft 5ΒΌ ins |
| Particular marks: | Burn mark on right cheek |
| State of health: | Good |
| Able-bodied? | Yes |
| Date of admission: | 8 September 1893 |
| Late residence: | 1 court Warwick Street, Wolverhampton |
| Parish he belongs to: | Wolverhampton |
| Customary work and mode of life: | Police report - This lad has for some time past been sleeping out and arrested for. While on remand he escaped from the workhouse and was captured some miles off |
| Whether illegitimate: | - |
| State of education: | |
| Reads: | Imperfectly, Standard 3 |
| Writes: | Imperfectly, Standard 3 |
| Offence: | Stealing a watch (metal) |
| Circumstances which may have led to it: | See police report [above] |
| Date of sentence, by whom and court: | 26 August 1893; C A Newman and W V Mee; Wolverhampton Petty Sessions |
| Where imprisoned: | H M Prison Stafford |
| Sentence: | 14 days in prison, 5 years at Saltley |
| Previous committals: | |
| Number: | 1 |
| Length: | 1 day in prison and 10 strokes with birch rod |
| For what: | Stealing a pigeon |
| Father's name: | John Whittaker |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Mother's name: | Louisa Whittaker |
| Occupation: | Housewife |
| Parents dead? | Neither |
| Survivor married again? | - |
| Parents' treatment of child: | Boy says good |
| Character of parents | Reported to be of good character. In 1896 the father was convicted of attempted wife murder and sent to penal servitude for a long time |
| Parents' wages: | 15s per week |
| Amount parents agree to pay: | - |
| Parents address: | 1 court Warwick Street, Wolverhampton |
| Superintendent of police (to collect payments): | - |
| Person making this return: | - |
| Notes: | |
| 21 August 1893 The crime was reported in the Birmingham Daily Post Monday 21 August 1893 p.8 col.6: STEALING A WATCH. - At the Police Court, on Saturday, Samuel Whittaker (13), of Warwick Street, was charged with stealing a watch, the property of William Allard, horse-slaughterer, Steelhouse Lane. - The watch had been hung up in the slaughter-house whilst the prosecutor was at work, and during his absence it was stolen by the prisoner, who when apprehended produced the watch. The boy, it appeared, had been in the habit of frequenting the slaughter-house; and Mr. T. Parker, one of the magistrates, thought it was tempting the boy to become a thief by leaving the watch there. As he had been previously before the Court for theft, he was now ordered to be detained in a reformatory for five years. | |
| 4 March 1897 The Register of Boys on Licence records that Whittaker was licensed to go out and work for Mr Martin, Egleton Farm, Oakham | |
| 7 September 1898 Sentence expired, discharged from Saltley | |