Thomas Charles Frederick Brown - Saltley Reformatory Inmate
| No. in Admissions Register: | 1111 |
| Age: | 14 (born 16 November 1881) |
| Whence received: | Cannock Petty Sessions |
| Description: | |
| Complexion: | Fresh |
| Hair colour: | Brown |
| Eyes colour: | Light blue |
| Height: | 4 ft 8½ ins |
| Particular marks: | Birth mark inside left leg below knee; mole on right shoulder |
| State of health: | Good |
| Able-bodied? | Yes |
| Date of admission: | 26 November 1895 |
| Late residence: | Station Road, Hednesford |
| Parish he belongs to: | - |
| Customary work and mode of life: | Nil - this boy has for the past 2 or 3 years mixed with bad boys and narrowly escaped being prosecuted for robbing. His parents seem to have lost entire control of him, and have for some considerable time been unable to get him to school and in the meantime he has been running about and mixing with bad characters |
| Whether illegitimate: | No |
| State of education: | |
| Reads: | Imperfectly |
| Writes: | Imperfectly |
| Offence: | Larceny - stealing tobacco |
| Circumstances which may have led to it: | Lack of parental control |
| Date of sentence, by whom and court: | 25 November 1895; Lord Hatherton; Cannock Petty Sessions |
| Where imprisoned: | Not |
| Sentence: | Detained at Saltley until the age of 18 years |
| Previous committals: | |
| Number: | None |
| Length: | - |
| For what: | - |
| Father's name: | James Eccleston (step-father) |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Mother's name: | Bertha Eccleston |
| Occupation: | Housewife |
| Parents dead? | Father |
| Survivor married again? | - |
| Parents' treatment of child: | - |
| Character of parents | Good |
| Parents' wages: | - |
| Amount parents agree to pay: | - |
| Parents address: | Station Road, Hednesford |
| Superintendent of police (to collect payments): | - |
| Person making this return: | John Simkin, Clerk to the Magistrates |
| Notes: | |
| 30 November 1895 The crime that sent him to Saltley was reported in the Cannock Chase Courier Saturday 30 November 1895 p.8 col.1: LOOTING THE CIGAR SHOP. Five boys named John Thomas Brown (14), Arthur Samuel Langston (15), William Arthur Homer (14), Thomas Hobby Partington (11), and Thomas Brown, alias Eccleston (14), were charged with purloining cigarettes from the shop of James Stokes, of Hednesford, on the 11th of November, in the Cannock Road. - Mr E Loxton appeared for Langston, Homer and J. Thomas Brown. Mary, wife of James Stokes, stated that on the 11th of November one of the boys entered the shop and asked for a cigarette holder. She had to turn to get the article and when the lad left the shop she found that some cigarettes on the counter had been disturbed, and she went out of the front door when the boys ran away.- P C Johnson went to the house of Partington and made enquiries, when the boy said he had some of the cigarettes, which he fetched from his rabbit pen; witness then went to the home of Thomas Brown, who fetched some for him. Homer, whom he also visited, admitted that he had had one cigarette, which after Partington told him where he got it from he handed it back, and Partington, who was present, replied : Yes, after you had smoked part of it. The officer related the result of his visits to the defendants, and it appeared that all had had one or more of the cigarettes. - In reply to Mr Loxton witness believed Langston, Homer, and John Thomas Brown all went to the Sunday School. So far as these lads were concerned the officer had little to complain about their conduct. - The boys pleaded not guilty, but desired to have the case settled. - Mr Loxton addressed the Bench on behalf of his clients. They were, he said, decent boys, they went to the Sunday School, and they were very sorry they had got into such a serious scrape. - After some consultation Lord Hatherton said the Bench had determined to give these boys the benefit of the doubt, and they would be ordered to sit down. - The officer intimated that Partington and Eccleston gave their parents a lot of trouble - more especially the former, who would not attend school, while the latter had slept out at nights. Constant complaints were heard about his conduct. - The Bench said the older lad, Eccleston, would be sent to a reformatory until he was 15 years old, while the younger, Partington, would be ordered to receive six strokes of the birch and then sent to an industrial school until he was 18 years old. - Lord Hatherton then called the other three lads forward and gave them a severe lecture, pointing out that they ought not to have associated with the others. These appeared to feel their position acutely, but Eccleston seemed to have little dread, even of the birch. | |
| 16 November 1899 Sentence expired, discharged from Saltley | |