Albert Harvey - Saltley Reformatory Inmate
| No. in Admissions Register: | 1108 |
| Age: | 15 (born 19 October 1880) |
| Whence received: | Cannock Petty Sessions |
| Description: | |
| Complexion: | Freckled |
| Hair colour: | Dark |
| Eyes colour: | Brownish grey |
| Height: | 4 ft 8ΒΌ ins |
| Particular marks: | Brown patch on back |
| State of health: | Good |
| Able-bodied? | Yes |
| Date of admission: | 8 November 1895 |
| Late residence: | Huntingdon Terrace, Chadsmoor, Cannock |
| Parish he belongs to: | - |
| Customary work and mode of life: | Boy appears to have wandered where he liked all over the country. He has no settled place of abode. He has lived at Chadsmoor about 9 months, and almost from the day of his arriving shops were robbed right and left. He was suspected, and at length caught |
| Whether illegitimate: | Yes |
| State of education: | |
| Reads: | Imperfectly |
| Writes: | Imperfectly |
| Offence: | Stealing 16s in money and a watch |
| Circumstances which may have led to it: | Mother of bad character |
| Date of sentence, by whom and court: | 28 October 1895; Lord Hatherton; Cannock Petty Sessions |
| Where imprisoned: | Not, but spent 7 days in Hednesford Police Station |
| Sentence: | Detained at Saltley for 3 years 9 months |
| Previous committals: | |
| Number: | Nil |
| Length: | - |
| For what: | - |
| Father's name: | Robert Elwin |
| Occupation: | Collier |
| Mother's name: | Margaret Harvey |
| Occupation: | - |
| Parents dead? | Neither |
| Survivor married again? | - |
| Parents' treatment of child: | Boy says good |
| Character of parents | Character of father not known. Character of mother very bad (living with another man) |
| Parents' wages: | Not known |
| Amount parents agree to pay: | Not assessed |
| Parents address: | Mother - Huntingdon Terrace, Chadsmoor, Cannock |
| Superintendent of police (to collect payments): | - |
| Person making this return: | J Simkin, Assistant Clerk to Justices |
| Notes: | |
| 2 November 1895 The crime that sent him to Saltley was reported in the Cannock Chase Courier Saturday 2 November 1895 p.8 cols.4-5: WICKED AND MISCHIEVOUS. Albert Harvey, 15 years old, was charged with stealing 8d, the property of Job Jones, of Chadsmoor. Mary, wife of the prosecutor, stated that on the 15th of October, at 2 o'clock, the prisoner went to the back premises of the house and said she was wanted in the shop. She had not directed the prisoner to mind the shop for her. Emma Treherne, residing at Crab Lane, Chadsmoor, stated that on the 15th she went into the shop, when the prisoner got up from behind the counter. She said she wanted some vinegar but he said they had none. She left the shop and then looked through the in the till. She called another woman named in the till. She called another woman named Johnson, and they went into the shop. The boy then called Mrs Jones. Sarah Ann Johnson, widow, residing at Cannock Road, Chadsmoor, corroborated. When they entered the shop the prisoner ran across a field on the Red Hill farm. He, however, arrested him on the charge of stealing 8d but at first he denied it. Later on, however, he said it was no use telling lies, he had it. On the following morning the officer found the two penny pieces produced. - The prisoner now pleaded guilty. - The prisoner was then charged with stealing 16s. and a watch which was produced - or portions of it. - Mary Ann Bellamy, draper and milliner, Chadsmoor, stated that on the 7th of October she missed 16s from the draw in her shop. She had seen the lad loitering about in front of the shop. She had also lost a watch value 10/6. - Officer Taylor stated that on the 15th when the prisoner was in custody he charged him with stealing four half crowns and three two shilling piece. The prisoner said he took some money and the watch which he had broken to pieces and thrown it away. The portions of the watch produced were found in a field at the 0ld Fallow. - The prisoner now pleaded guilty, and it was stated that nothing previously was known against him - The mother, who said she was a native of Brewood, said the lad had a father alive, but her husband was not his father. She asked the Bench to deal leniently with the lad. Her husband was a bricklayers labourer. - In reply to further enquiries the woman said she was not at that Court to answer questions, but of that she was quickly corrected. - The Bench consulted and than said the lad would be sent to a reformatory for four years. | |
| 8 May 1899 The Register of Boys on Licence records that Harvey was licensed to go out and work for Mr Mason, Station Road, Rugeley | |
| 11 April 1899 The Log Book report records that Harvey will be enlisting in new 4th Battalion Warwickshire Regiment | |